Catholic Public Domain Version

Sirach 19:1-13 Catholic Public Domain Version (CPDV)

1. An inebriated worker will not be wealthy. And whoever despises littleness will fall a little at a time.

2. Wine and women cause wise men to fall away, and then they will complain against those who understand.

3. And whoever joins himself to fornicators will become wicked. Decay and worms will inherit him, and he will be denounced as the greater example, and his soul will be deducted from the number.

4. Whoever is quick to believe has a trivial heart and will be diminished. And whoever offends against his own soul will have even less.

5. Whoever rejoices in iniquity will be condemned. And whoever hates correction will have less in life. But whoever hates excessive talk extinguishes evil.

6. Whoever sins against his own soul will be punished. And whoever rejoices in malice will be condemned.

7. You should not repeat a wicked and harsh word, and then you will not be diminished.

8. Do not reveal your mind to friend or foe. And if there is a sin within you, do not disclose it.

9. For he will listen to you and watch you, and while pretending to defend your sin, he will despise you, and so he will be whenever he is with you.

10. Have you heard a word against your neighbor? Let it die within you, trusting that it will not burst forth from you.

11. Before the face of a word, a foolish man labors, like a woman groaning as she gives birth to a child.

12. Like an arrow fixed in the flesh of the thigh, so is a word in the heart of a foolish man.

13. Correct a friend, though perhaps there was a misunderstanding, and he may say, "I did not do it." Or, if he did do it, correct him, so that he may not do it again.