Sirach 27
Sin can easily become wedged between buying and selling, and it will ultimately be crushed with the one who sins. A person's true character is revealed through their words and actions, just as a tree's fruit is revealed through pruning. Those who pursue justice will obtain it and be protected by it, while those who work iniquity will be caught by their own sins. The company one keeps can also reveal their character, as birds flock to their own kind and the senseless change like the moon.
1Because of need, many have sinned. And whoever seeks to be enriched, averts his eye2Like a post fixed in the middle of adjoining stones, so also will sin become wedged between selling and buying3Sin will be crushed with the one who sins4If you do not hold yourself steadfastly to the fear of the Lord, your house will be quickly overthrown5Just as the dust remains when one shakes a sieve, so will the doubt of a man remain in his thoughts6The furnace tests the potter’s vessels, and the trial of the tribulation tests just men7As the pruning of a tree reveals its fruit, so does a word reveal the thoughts in the heart of a man8You should not praise a man before he speaks; for such is the testing of men9If you pursue justice, you will obtain it. And you will be clothed with justice, as with a long robe of honor. And you will live with justice. And justice will protect you continually. And on the day of reckoning, you will find a strong foundation10Birds flock to their own kind. And truth will return to those who practice it11The lion lies in wait for its prey continually. So also do sins lie in wait for those who work iniquity12A holy man persists in wisdom like the sun. But a senseless man changes like the moon13In the midst of the senseless, retain a word for the proper time. But be continually in the midst those who are thoughtful14The discussions of sinners are hateful, and their laughter is a delight in sin15The speech that swears many oaths will cause the hair of the head to stand upright; and its irreverence will cause the ears to be blocked16The shedding of blood is in the quarrels of the arrogant; and their evil talk is grievous to hear17Whoever discloses the secret of a friend breaks faith; and he will not find a friend for his soul18Love your neighbor, and be united with him faithfully19But if you disclose his secrets, you should not continue to follow after him20For like a man who destroys his friend, so also is he who destroys the friendship of his neighbor21And like someone releasing a bird from his hand, so have you abandoned your neighbor, and you will not obtain him again22You should no longer seek him, for he is now far away; he has fled like a roe-deer from a snare. For his soul has been wounded23You will no longer be able to bind his wound. For there may be a reconciliation from cursing24But to disclose the secrets of a friend is the hopeless act of an unhappy soul25One who winks with the eye fabricates iniquity, and no one will cast him aside26In the sight of your eyes, he will sweeten his mouth, and he will admire your talk. But at the very end, he will pervert his mouth, and he will offer a scandal from your own words27I have hated many things, but I have not done as he has done, and the Lord will hate him28Whoever throws a stone straight up will find that it falls on his own head. And a deceitful wound will return to wound the deceitful29And whoever digs a pit will fall into it. And whoever positions a stone against his neighbor will stumble over it. And whoever lays a trap for another will perish by it30Whoever sets in motion a wicked plan will find that it rolls back over him, and he will not know from which direction it will arrive31Mockery and derision are of the arrogant, and vengeance will lie in wait for them, like a lion32Whoever enjoys the fall of the just will perish in a snare, and grief will consume them before they die33Anger and fury are both abominable, and the sinful man will be held by them
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