Sirach 21 - UPDV Updated Bible Version

^21:1 My son, have you sinned? Do not add to it; And make supplication concerning your former sins.
^21:2 Flee from sin as from the face of a serpent; For if you come near it, it will bite you; Its teeth are lion's teeth, Slaying the souls of men.
^21:3 Like a two-edged sword is all iniquity, From its stroke there is no healing.
^21:4 Tyranny and violence destroy wealth, So the house of the arrogant is desolated.
^21:5 Supplication from the mouth of a poor man [reaches] to the ears of the Lord, And his vindication comes quickly.
^21:6 He who hates reproof [walks] in the path of a sinner, But he who fears the Lord will turn [to him] whole-heartedly.
^21:7 The wise discerns him who is before him, And spies out the sinner at once.
^21:8 He who builds his house with other men's money, Is as one gathering stones for his burial mound.
^21:9 [Like] flax wrapped together is the gathering of the ungodly, And their end is a flame of fire.
^21:10 The way of sinners is made smooth without stones, And at its end is the pit of Hades.
^21:11 He who observes the law becomes the master of his natural tendency, And the fear of the Lord is the consummation of wisdom.
^21:12 He who is not wise will not be instructed, And there is a wisdom which makes bitterness to abound.
^21:13 The knowledge of a wise man abounds like a spring of water, And his counsel is like the water of life.
^21:14 The inward parts of a fool are like a broken vessel, He holds no knowledge.
^21:15 If an understanding man hears a wise word, He commends it, and adds to it; If a foolish man hears it, he mocks it, And he casts it behind his back.
^21:16 The discourse of a fool is like a burden on a journey, But upon the lips of the wise grace is found.
^21:17 The utterance of a prudent man is sought for in the assembly. And his words are pondered in the heart.
^21:18 As a house that is a prison so is wisdom to a fool, And the knowledge of an unwise man is [as] talk without sense.
^21:19 [As] chains on [their] feet, [so] is instruction to the foolish, And as manacles on their right hand.
^21:20 The fool lifts up his voice with laughter, But the wise man scarcely smiles in silence.
^21:21 As a golden ornament is instruction to the wise, And as a bracelet upon their right arm.
^21:22 The foot of a fool hastes into a house, But it is good manners to stand outside.
^21:23 The fool through the door looks into a house, But the cautious man demeans himself humbly.
^21:24 It is unseemly for one to listen at the door, And the wise man is grieved at the disgrace [of it].
^21:25 The lips of babblers [only] repeat the things that are not theirs, But the words of the wise are weighed in the balance.
^21:26 The heart of fools is in their mouth, But the mouth of the wise is [in] their heart.
^21:27 When the ungodly curses his adversary He curses his own soul.
^21:28 The whisperer defiles his own soul, And is hated wherever he sojourns.

Sirach, Chapter 21