Sirach · Brenton's Greek Septuagint
Sirach 22 Brenton's Greek Septuagint
Notes on this text (1)
- Ezra and Nehemiah form one book (2 Esdras) in this edition; the reader shows them as Ezra 1–10 and Nehemiah 1–13.
1 Λίθῳ ἠρδαλωμένῳ συνεβλήθη ὀκνηρὸς, καὶ πᾶς ἐκσυριεῖ ἐπὶ τῇ ἀτιμίᾳ αὐτοῦ.
1 A slothful man is compared to a stone that is defiled. Everyone will hiss at him in his disgrace.
2 Βολβίτῳ κοπρίων συνεβλήθη ὀκνηρὸς, πᾶς ὁ ἀναιρούμενος αὐτὸν ἐκτινάξει χεῖρα.
2 A slothful man is compared to the filth of a dunghill. Anyone who picks it up will shake it out of his hand.
3 Αἰσχύνη πατρὸς ἐν γεννήσει ἀπαιδεύτου, θυγάτηρ δὲ ἐπʼ ἐλαττώσει γίνεται.
3 An undisciplined child is a disgrace to his father, and a foolish daughter is born to his loss.
4 Θυγάτηρ φρονίμη κληρονομήσει ἄνδρα αὐτῆς, καὶ ἡ καταισχύνουσα, εἰς λύπην γεννήσαντος.
4 A prudent daughter will inherit a husband of her own. She who brings shame is the grief of her father.
5 Πατέρα καὶ ἄνδρα καταισχύνει ἡ θρασεῖα, καὶ ὑπὸ ἀμφοτέρων ἀμιμασθήσεται.
5 She who is arrogant brings shame on father and husband. She will be despised by both of them.
6 Μουσικὰ ἐν πένθει ἄκαιρος διήγησις, μάστιγες καὶ παιδεία ἐν παντὶ καιρῷ σοφίας.
6 Ill-timed conversation is like music in mourning, but stripes and correction are wisdom in every season. 7 He who teaches a fool is like one who glues potsherds together, even like one who wakes a sleeper out of a deep sleep. 8 He who teaches a fool is as one who teaches a man who slumbers. In the end he will say, “What is it?”
9 Συγκολλῶν ὄστρακον ὁ διδάσκων μωρὸν, ἐξεγείρων καθεύδοντα ἐκ βαθέως ὕπνου.
9 Not in this translation
10 Διηγούμενος νυστάζοντι ὁ διηγούμενος μωρῷ, καὶ ἐπὶ συντελείᾳ ἐρεῖ, τί ἐστιν;
10 Not in this translation
11 Ἐπὶ νεκρῷ κλαῦσον, ἐξέλιπε γὰρ φῶς· καὶ ἐπὶ μωρῷ κλαῦσον, ἐξέλιπε γὰρ σύνεσις· ἥδιον κλαῦσον ἐπὶ νεκρῷ, ὅτι ἀνεπαύσατο, τοῦ δὲ μωροῦ ὑπὲρ θάνατον ἡ ζωὴ πονηρά.
11 Weep for the dead, for he lacks light. Weep for a fool, for he lacks understanding. Weep more sweetly for the dead, because he has found rest, but the life of the fool is worse than death.
12 Πένθος νεκροῦ ἑπτὰ ἡμέραι, μωροῦ δὲ καὶ ἀσεβοῦς πᾶσαι αἱ ἡμέραι τῆς ζωῆς αὐτοῦ.
12 Mourning for the dead lasts seven days, but for a fool and an ungodly man, it lasts all the days of his life.
13 Μετὰ ἄφρονος μὴ πληθύνῃς λόγον, καὶ πρὸς ἀσύνετον μὴ πορεύου· φύλαξον ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ ἵνα μὴ κόπον ἔχῃς, καὶ οὐ μὴ μολυνθῇς ἐν τῷ ἐντιναγμῷ αὐτοῦ· ἔκκλινον ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ καὶ εὑρήσεις ἀνάπαυσιν, καὶ οὐ μὴ ἀκηδιάσῃς ἐν τῇ ἀπονοίᾳ αὐτοῦ.
13 Don’t talk much with a foolish man, and don’t go to one who has no understanding. Beware of him, lest you have trouble and be defiled in his onslaught. Turn away from him, and you will find rest, and you won’t be wearied in his madness.
14 Ὑπὲρ μόλυβδον τί βαρυνθήσεται; καὶ τί αὐτῷ ὄνομα, ἀλλʼ ἢ μωρός;
14 What would be heavier than lead? What is its name, but “Fool”?
15 Ἄμμον καὶ ἅλα καὶ βῶλον σιδήρου εὔκοπον ὑπενεγκεῖν, ἢ ἄνθρωπον ἀσύνετον.
15 Sand, salt, and a mass of iron is easier to bear than a man without understanding.
16 Ἱμάντωσις ξυλίνη ἐνδεδεμένη εἰς οἰκοδομὴν ἐν συσσεισμῷ οὐ διαλυθήσεται, οὕτως καρδία ἐστηριγμένη ἐπὶ διανοήματος βουλῆς ἐν καιρῷ οὐ δειλιάσει.
16 Timber girded and bound into a building will not be released with shaking. So a heart established in due season on well advised counsel will not be afraid.
17 Καρδία ἡδρασμένη ἐπὶ διανοίας συνέσεως, ὡς κόσμος ψαμμωτὸς τοίχου ξυστοῦ.
17 A heart settled upon a thoughtful understanding is as an ornament of plaster on a polished wall.
18 Χάρακες ἐπὶ μετεώρου κείμενοι κατέναντι ἀνέμου οὐ μὴ ὑπομείνωσιν, οὕτως καρδία δειλὴ ἐπὶ διανοήματος μωροῦ κατέναντι παντὸς φόβου οὐ μὴ ὑπομείνῃ.
18 Fences set on a high place will not stand against the wind; so a fearful heart in the imagination of a fool will not stand against any fear.
19 Ὁ νύσσων ὀφθαλμὸν κατάξει δάκρυα, καὶ ὁ νύσσων καρδίαν ἐκφαίνει αἴσθησιν.
19 He who pricks the eye will make tears fall. He who pricks the heart makes it show feeling.
20 Βάλλων λίθον ἐπὶ πετεινὰ ἀποσοβεῖ αὐτὰ, καὶ ὁ ὀνειδίζων φίλον διαλύσει φιλίαν.
20 Whoever casts a stone at birds scares them away. He who insults a friend will dissolve friendship.
21 Ἐπὶ φίλον ἐὰν σπάσῃς ῥομφαίαν, μὴ ἀπελπίσῃς, ἔστι γὰρ ἐπάνοδος.
21 If you have drawn a sword against a friend, don’t despair, for there may be a way back.
22 Ἐπὶ φίλον ἐὰν ἀνοίξῃς στόμα, μὴ εὐλαβηθῇς, ἔστι γὰρ διαλλαγή· πλὴν ὀνειδισμοῦ, καὶ ὑπερηφανίας, καὶ μυστηρίου ἀποκαλύψεως, καὶ πληγῆς δολίας, ἐν τούτοις ἀποφεύξεται πᾶς φίλος.
22 If you have opened your mouth against a friend, don’t be afraid, for there may be reconciliation, unless it is for insulting, arrogance, disclosing of a secret, or a treacherous blow— for these things any friend will flee.
23 Πίστιν κτῆσαι ἐν πτωχείᾳ μετὰ τοῦ πλησίον, ἵνα ἐν τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς αὐτοῦ ὁμοῦ πλησθῇς· ἐν καιρῷ θλίψεως διάμενε αὐτῷ, ἵνα ἐν τῇ κληρονομίᾳ αὐτοῦ συνκληρονομήσῃς.
23 Gain trust with your neighbor in his poverty, that in his prosperity you may have gladness. Stay steadfast to him in the time of his affliction, that you may be heir with him in his inheritance.
24 Πρὸ πυρὸς ἀτμὶς καμίνου καὶ καπνὸς, οὕτως πρὸ αἱμάτων λοιδορίαι.
24 Before fire is the vapor and smoke of a furnace, so insults precede bloodshed.
25 Φίλον σκεπάσαι οὐκ αἰσχυνθήσομαι, καὶ ἀπὸ προσώπου αὐτοῦ οὐ μὴ κρυβῶ,
25 I won’t be ashamed to shelter a friend. I won’t hide myself from his face.
26 καὶ εἰ κακά μοι συμβῇ διʼ αὐτόν, πᾶς ὁ ἀκούων φυλάξεται ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ.
26 If any evil happens to me because of him, everyone who hears it will beware of him.
27 Τίς δώσει μοι ἐπὶ στόμα μου φυλακὴν, καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν χειλέων μου σφραγίδα πανοῦργον, ἵνα μὴ πέσω ἀπʼ αὐτῆς, καὶ ἡ γλῶσσά μου ἀπολέσῃ με;
27 Who will set a watch over my mouth, and a seal of shrewdness upon my lips, that I may not fall from it, and that my tongue may not destroy me?
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
It is written, "The mourning for the dead is seven days; for a fool and an ungodly man all the days of his life." What!
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 6 (1888)