Wealth, Conversation, Wrath and Anger

For the sake of profit many sin, and the struggle for wealth blinds the eyes. A stake will be driven between fitted stones— sin will be wedged in between buying and selling.

Unless one holds fast to the fear of the Lord, with sudden swiftness will one’s house be thrown down.

When a sieve is shaken, the husks appear; so do people’s faults when they speak. The furnace tests the potter’s vessels; the test of a person is in conversation.

The fruit of a tree shows the care it has had; so speech discloses the bent of a person’s heart. Praise no one before he speaks, for it is then that people are tested.

If you strive after justice, you will attain it, and wear it like a splendid robe. Birds nest with their own kind, and honesty comes to those who work at it.

A lion lies in wait for prey, so does sin for evildoers. The conversation of the godly is always wisdom, but the fool changes like the moon.

Limit the time you spend among the stupid, but frequent the company of the thoughtful. The conversation of fools is offensive, and their laughter is wanton sin . . .

Whoever has shifty eyes plots mischief and those who know him will keep their distance; in your presence he uses honeyed talk, and admires your words, but later he changes his tone and twists the words to your ruin. I have hated many things but not as much as him, and the Lord hates him as well. A stone falls back on the head of the one who throws it high, and a treacherous blow causes many wounds.

Whoever digs a pit falls into it, and whoever lays a snare is caught in it. The evil anyone does will recoil on him without knowing how it came upon him. Mockery and abuse will befall the arrogant, and vengeance lies in wait for them like a lion.

Those who rejoice in the downfall of the godly will be caught in a snare, and pain will consume them before they die. Wrath and anger, these also are abominations, yet a sinner holds on to them.

Sirach 27 - 28
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