Home Prior Books Index
←Prev   Sirach 19 as rendered by/in  Next→ 

Did you notice?
 You can SEARCH IslamAwakened: 

19:1  If you do, you will never get rich; if you don't pay attention to small matters, you will gradually ruin yourself.
19:2  Wine and women make sensible men do foolish things. A man who goes to prostitutes gets more and more careless,
19:3  and that carelessness will cost him his life. Worms will feed on his decaying body.
19:4  It is silly to trust people too quickly. If you sin, you are hurting yourself.
19:5  If wickedness makes you happy, you will be condemned.
19:6  Avoid idle talk, and you will avoid a lot of trouble.
19:7  Never repeat what you hear, and you will have no regrets.
19:8  Don't tell it to your friends or your enemies unless it would be sinful to keep it to yourself.
19:9  Whoever hears you will take note of it, and sooner or later will hate you for it.
19:10  Have you heard a rumor? Let it die with you. Be brave! It won't make you explode.
19:11  A foolish person trying to keep a secret suffers like a woman in labor.
19:12  Any time he hears a secret, it's like an arrow stuck in his leg.
19:13  If you hear that a friend has done something wrong, ask him about it. Maybe it isn't true. If it is true, he won't do it again.
19:14  If you hear that a neighbor has said something he shouldn't, ask him about it. Maybe he didn't say it. If he did, he won't say it again.
19:15  If you hear something bad about a friend, ask him about it. It might be a lie. Don't believe everything you hear.
19:16  A person may say something carelessly and not really mean it. Everyone has sinned in this way at one time or another.
19:17  If you hear something that makes you angry with your neighbor, ask him about it before you threaten him. Leave the matter to the Law of the Most High.
19:20  Fear the Lord and keep his Law; that is what Wisdom is all about.
19:22  You may know everything there is to know about wickedness, but that does not make you wise. It is not sensible to follow the advice of sinners.
19:23  It is possible to use cleverness for wicked purposes, but some people act like fools because they don't know any better.
19:24  A devout person, even if he is not very intelligent, is better off than the cleverest of sinners.
19:25  It is possible to be marvelously clever and still be dishonest, or to get what you want by being absurdly polite.
19:26  Then there are those wicked people who go about looking very solemn and mournful, but who are only trying to deceive you.
19:27  They will turn their faces away and pretend not to hear you, but they'll take advantage of you when you least expect it.
19:28  If for some reason they are unable to sin now, they'll get around to it at the first opportunity.