Sirach 27

1Through poverty many have sinned: and he that seeketh to be enriched, turneth away his eye.

2As a stake sticketh fast in the midst of the joining of stones, so also in the midst of selling and buying, sin shall stick fast.

3Sin shall be destroyed with the sinner.

4Unless thou hold thyself diligently in the fear of the Lord, thy house shall quickly be overthrown.

5As when one sifteth with a sieve, the dust will remain: so will the perplexity of a man in his thoughts.

6The furnace trieth the potter's vessels, and the trial of affliction just men.

7As the dressing of a tree showeth the fruit thereof, so a word out of the thought of the heart of man.

8Praise not a man before he speaketh, for this is the trial of men.

9If thou followest justice, thou shalt obtain her: and shalt put her on as a long robe of honour, and thou shalt dwell with her: and she shall protect thee for ever, and in the day of acknowledgment thou shalt find a strong foundation.

10Birds resort unto their like: so truth will return to them that practise her.

11The lion always lieth in wait for prey: so do sins for them that work iniquities.

12A holy man continueth in wisdom as the sun: but a fool is changed as the moon.

13In the midst of the unwise keep in the word till its time: but be continually among men that think.

14The discourse of sinners is hateful, and their laughter is at the pleasures of sin.

15The speech that sweareth much shall make the hair of the head stand upright: and its irreverence shall make one stop his ears.

16In the quarrels of the road is the shedding of blood: and their cursing is a grievous hearing.

17He that discloseth the secret of a friend loseth his credit, and shall never find a friend to his mind.

18Love thy neighbour, and be joined to him with fidelity.

19But if thou discover his secrets, follow no more after him.

20For as a man that destroyeth his friend, so is he that destroyeth the friendship of his neighbour.

21And as one that letteth a bird go out of his hand, so hast thou let thy neighbour go, and thou shalt not get him again.

22Follow after him no more, for he is gone afar off, he is fled, as a roe escaped out of the snare because his soul is wounded.

23Thou canst no more bind him up. And of a curse there is reconciliation:

24But to disclose the secrets of a friend, leaveth no hope to an unhappy soul.

25He that winketh with the eye forgeth wicked things, and no man will cast him off:

26In the sight of thy eyes he will sweeten his mouth, and will admire thy words: but at the last he will writhe his mouth, and on thy words he will lay a stumbling block.

27I have hated many things but not like him, and the Lord will hate him.

28If one cast a stone on high, it will fall upon his own head: and the deceitful stroke will wound the deceitful.

29He that diggeth a pit, shall fall into it: and he that setteth a stone for his neighbour, shall stumble upon it: and he that layeth a snare for another, shall perish in it.

30A mischievous counsel shall be rolled back upon the author, and he shall not know from whence it cometh to him.

31Mockery and reproach are of the proud, and vengeance as a lion shall lie in wait for him.

32They shall perish in a snare that are delighted with the fall of the just: and sorrow shall consume them before they die.

33Anger and fury are both of them abominable, and the sinful man shall be subject to them.

1Propter inopiam multi deliquerunt : et qui quærit locupletari avertit oculum suum.

2Sicut in medio compaginis lapidum palus figitur, sic et inter medium venditionis et emptionis angustiabitur peccatum :

3conteretur cum delinquente delictum.

4Si non in timore Domini tenueris te instanter, cito subvertetur domus tua.

5Sicut in percussura cribri remanebit pulvis, sic aporia hominis in cogitatu illius.

6Vasa figuli probat fornax, et homines justos tentatio tribulationis.

7Sicut rusticatio de ligno ostendit fructum illius, sic verbum ex cogitatu cordis hominis.

8Ante sermonem non laudes virum : hæc enim tentatio est hominum.

9Si sequaris justitiam, apprehendes illam, et indues quasi poderem honoris : et inhabitabis cum ea, et proteget te in sempiternum, et in die agnitionis invenies firmamentum.

10Volatilia ad sibi similia conveniunt : et veritas ad eos qui operantur illam revertetur.

11Leo venationi insidiatur semper : sic peccata operantibus iniquitates.

12Homo sanctus in sapientia manet sicut sol : nam stultus sicut luna mutatur.

13In medio insensatorum serva verbum tempori : in medio autem cogitantium assiduus esto.

14Narratio peccantium odiosa, et risus illorum in deliciis peccati.

15Loquela multum jurans horripilationem capiti statuet, et irreverentia ipsius obturatio aurium.

16Effusio sanguinis in rixa superborum, et maledictio illorum auditus gravis.

17Qui denudat arcana amici fidem perdit, et non inveniet amicum ad animum suum.

18Dilige proximum, et conjungere fide cum illo.

19Quod si denudaveris absconsa illius, non persequeris post eum.

20Sicut enim homo qui perdit amicum suum, sic et qui perdit amicitiam proximi sui.

21Et sicut qui dimittit avem de manu sua, sic dereliquisti proximum tuum, et non eum capies.

22Non illum sequaris, quoniam longe abest : effugit enim quasi caprea de laqueo, quoniam vulnerata est anima ejus :

23ultra eum non poteris colligare. Et maledicti est concordatio :

24denudare autem amici mysteria, desperatio est animæ infelicis.

25Annuens oculo fabricat iniqua, et nemo eum abjiciet.

26In conspectu oculorum tuorum condulcabit os suum, et super sermones tuos admirabitur : novissime autem pervertet os suum, et in verbis tuis dabit scandalum.

27Multa odivi, et non coæquavi ei, et Dominus odiet illum.

28Qui in altum mittit lapidem, super caput ejus cadet : et plaga dolosa dolosi dividet vulnera.

29Et qui foveam fodit incidet in eam : et qui statuit lapidem proximo offendet in eo : et qui laqueum alii ponit, peribit in illo.

30Facienti nequissimum consilium, super ipsum devolvetur, et non agnoscet unde adveniat illi.

31Illusio et improperium superborum, et vindicta sicut leo insidiabitur illi.

32Laqueo peribunt qui oblectantur casu justorum, dolor autem consumet illos antequam moriantur.

33Ira et furor utraque execrabilia sunt, et vir peccator continens erit illorum.

1χάριν διαφόρου πολλοὶ ἥμαρτον καὶ ὁ ζητῶν πληθῦναι ἀποστρέψει ὀφθαλμόν

2ἀνὰ μέσον ἁρμῶν λίθων παγήσεται πάσσαλος καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον πράσεως καὶ ἀγορασμοῦ συντριβήσεται ἁμαρτία

4ἐὰν μὴ ἐν φόβῳ κυρίου κρατήσῃ κατὰ σπουδήν ἐν τάχει καταστραφήσεται αὐτοῦ ὁ οἶκος

5ἐν σείσματι κοσκίνου διαμένει κοπρία οὕτως σκύβαλα ἀνθρώπου ἐν λογισμῷ αὐτοῦ

6σκεύη κεραμέως δοκιμάζει κάμινος καὶ πειρασμὸς ἀνθρώπου ἐν διαλογισμῷ αὐτοῦ

7γεώργιον ξύλου ἐκφαίνει ὁ καρπὸς αὐτοῦ οὕτως λόγος ἐνθυμήματος καρδίας ἀνθρώπου

8πρὸ λογισμοῦ μὴ ἐπαινέσῃς ἄνδρα οὗτος γὰρ πειρασμὸς ἀνθρώπων

9ἐὰν διώκῃς τὸ δίκαιον καταλήμψῃ καὶ ἐνδύσῃ αὐτὸ ὡς ποδήρη δόξης

10πετεινὰ πρὸς τὰ ὅμοια αὐτοῖς καταλύσει καὶ ἀλήθεια πρὸς τοὺς ἐργαζομένους αὐτὴν ἐπανήξει

11λέων θήραν ἐνεδρεύει οὕτως ἁμαρτία ἐργαζομένους ἄδικα

12διήγησις εὐσεβοῦς διὰ παντὸς σοφία ὁ δὲ ἄφρων ὡς σελήνη ἀλλοιοῦται

13εἰς μέσον ἀσυνέτων συντήρησον καιρόν εἰς μέσον δὲ διανοουμένων ἐνδελέχιζε

14διήγησις μωρῶν προσόχθισμα καὶ ὁ γέλως αὐτῶν ἐν σπατάλῃ ἁμαρτίας

15λαλιὰ πολυόρκου ἀνορθώσει τρίχας καὶ ἡ μάχη αὐτῶν ἐμφραγμὸς ὠτίων

16ἔκχυσις αἵματος μάχη ὑπερηφάνων καὶ ἡ διαλοιδόρησις αὐτῶν ἀκοὴ μοχθηρά

17ὁ ἀποκαλύπτων μυστήρια ἀπώλεσεν πίστιν καὶ οὐ μὴ εὕρῃ φίλον πρὸς τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ

18στέρξον φίλον καὶ πιστώθητι μετ' αὐτοῦ

19ἐὰν δὲ ἀποκαλύψῃς τὰ μυστήρια αὐτοῦ μὴ καταδιώξῃς ὀπίσω αὐτοῦ

20καθὼς γὰρ ἀπώλεσεν ἄνθρωπος τὸν νεκρὸν αὐτοῦ οὕτως ἀπώλεσας τὴν φιλίαν τοῦ πλησίον

21καὶ ὡς πετεινὸν ἐκ χειρός σου ἀπέλυσας οὕτως ἀφῆκας τὸν πλησίον καὶ οὐ θηρεύσεις αὐτόν

22μὴ αὐτὸν διώξῃς ὅτι μακρὰν ἀπέστη καὶ ἐξέφυγεν ὡς δορκὰς ἐκ παγίδος ὅτι τραῦμα ἔστιν

23καταδῆσαι καὶ λοιδορίας ἔστιν διαλλαγή

24ὁ δὲ ἀποκαλύψας μυστήρια ἀφήλπισεν

25διανεύων ὀφθαλμῷ τεκταίνει κακά καὶ οὐδεὶς αὐτὰ ἀποστήσει ἀπ' αὐτοῦ

26ἀπέναντι τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν σου γλυκανεῖ τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν λόγων σου ἐκθαυμάσει ὕστερον δὲ διαστρέψει τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐν τοῖς λόγοις σου δώσει σκάνδαλον

27πολλὰ ἐμίσησα καὶ οὐχ ὡμοίωσα αὐτῷ καὶ ὁ κύριος μισήσει αὐτόν

28ὁ βάλλων λίθον εἰς ὕψος ἐπὶ κεφαλὴν αὐτοῦ βάλλει καὶ πληγὴ δολία διελεῖ τραύματα

29ὁ ὀρύσσων βόθρον εἰς αὐτὸν ἐμπεσεῖται καὶ ὁ ἱστῶν παγίδα ἐν αὐτῇ ἁλώσεται

30ὁ ποιῶν πονηρά εἰς αὐτὸν κυλισθήσεται καὶ οὐ μὴ ἐπιγνῷ πόθεν ἥκει αὐτῷ

31ἐμπαιγμὸς καὶ ὀνειδισμὸς ὑπερηφάνῳ καὶ ἡ ἐκδίκησις ὡς λέων ἐνεδρεύσει αὐτόν

32παγίδι ἁλώσονται οἱ εὐφραινόμενοι πτώσει εὐσεβῶν καὶ ὀδύνη καταναλώσει αὐτοὺς πρὸ τοῦ θανάτου αὐτῶν

33μῆνις καὶ ὀργή καὶ ταῦτά ἐστιν βδελύγματα καὶ ἀνὴρ ἁμαρτωλὸς ἐγκρατὴς ἔσται αὐτῶν