Catholic Public Domain Version

Sirach 5:11-18 Catholic Public Domain Version (CPDV)

11. You should not winnow in every wind, and you should not go forth into every path. For so is every sinner proven by his duplicitous tongue.

12. Be steadfast in the way of the Lord and in the truth of your understanding and knowledge, and let words of peace and justice overtake you.

13. Be meek when listening to a word, so that you may understand. And offer a true response in wisdom.

14. If you understand, then answer your neighbor. But if you do not, then let your hand be over your mouth, so that you are not caught by an inept word, and then confounded.

15. Honor and glory are in the words of those who understand, yet truly, the tongue of the imprudent man is his undoing.

16. You should not be called a whisperer, and you should not be caught by your own tongue, and then confounded.

17. For confusion and remorse is upon a thief, and a wicked mark is upon the double-tongued; but for the whisperer, there is hatred and animosity and disgrace.

18. Justify the small and the great similarly.