Common English Bible

Sirach 27:19-30 Common English Bible (CEB)

19. And as you set a bird free from your hand,so too you have let your neighbors go,and you won’t catch them.

20. Don’t pursue them,because they have withdrawnfar away from you,and they have escapedlike a gazelle from a trap.

21. In the same way that it’s possibleto bandage a wound,there’s also reconciliation for insult,but the one who has let a friend’s secrets slip out has no hope.

22. Those who wink their eye plan evil,and whoever recognizes themwill keep their distance.

23. To your face their speech will be sweet,and they will express amazementat your words.But later they will distort what they said,and they will use your own wordsagainst you.

24. I’ve hated many things,but nothing compares with them.Even the Lord will hate them.

25. Those who throw stones up highthrow them on their own heads,and a deceitful blowwill open up wounds.

26. Whoever digs a hole will fall into it,and whoever sets a trapwill get caught in it.

27. Evil will roll back upon thosewho practice evil,and they will never knowwhere it came from.

28. Mocking and blamingbelong to the arrogant,and vengeance, like a lion,will lie in wait for them.

29. Those who rejoice when godly people fallwill get caught in a trap,and pain will consume thembefore their death.

30. Wrath and anger—these also are detestable,and they will possess the sinful person.