Sirach · Revised Version with Apocrypha
Sirach 22 Revised Version with Apocrypha
Sirach is not in RV1909.
1 A slothful man is compared to a stone that is defiled; And every one will hiss him out in his disgrace.
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2 A slothful man is compared to the filth of a dunghill: Every man that taketh it up will shake out his hand.
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3 A father hath shame in having begotten an uninstructed [son; ] And a [foolish ] daughter is born to his loss.
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4 A prudent daughter shall inherit a husband of her own; And she that bringeth shame is the grief of him that begat her.
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5 She that is bold bringeth shame upon father and husband; And she shall be despised of them both.
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6 Unseasonable discourse is [as ] music in mourning; But stripes and correction are wisdom at every season.
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7 He that teacheth a fool is [as ] one that glueth a potsherd together; [Even as ] one that waketh a sleeper out of a deep sleep.
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8 He that discourseth to a fool is [as ] one discoursing to a man that slumbereth; And at the end he will say, What is it?
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9 Not in this translation
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11 Weep for the dead, for light hath failed [him; ] And weep for a fool, for understanding hath failed [him: ] Weep more sweetly for the dead, because he hath found rest; But the life of the fool is worse than death.
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12 Seven days are [the days of ] mourning for the dead; But for a fool and an ungodly man, all the days of his life.
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13 Talk not much with a foolish man, And go not to one that hath no understanding: Beware of him, lest thou have trouble; And [so ] thou shalt not be defiled in his onslaught: Turn aside from him, and thou shalt find rest; And [so ] thou shalt not be wearied in his madness.
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14 What shall be heavier than lead? And what is the name thereof, but a fool?
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15 Sand, and salt, and a mass of iron, is easier to bear, Than a man without understanding.
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16 Timber girt and bound into a building shall not be loosed with shaking: So a heart established in due season on well advised counsel shall not be afraid.
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17 A heart settled upon a thoughtful understanding Is as an ornament of plaister on a polished wall.
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18 Pales 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.
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19 He that pricketh the eye will make tears to fall; And he that pricketh the heart maketh it to shew feeling.
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20 Whoso casteth a stone at birds frayeth them away; And he that upbraideth a friend will dissolve friendship.
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21 If thou hast drawn a sword against a friend, despair not; For there may be a returning.
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22 If thou hast opened thy mouth against a friend, fear not; For there may be a reconciling; Except it be for upbraiding, and arrogance, and disclosing of a secret, and a treacherous blow: For these things every friend will flee.
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23 Gain trust with thy neighbour in his poverty, That in his prosperity thou mayest have gladness: Abide stedfast unto him in the time of his affliction, That thou mayest be heir with him in his inheritance.
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24 Before fire is the vapour and smoke of a furnace; So revilings before bloodshed.
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25 I will not be ashamed to shelter a friend; And I will not hide myself from his face:
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26 And if any evil happen unto me because of him, Every one that heareth it will beware of him.
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27 Who shall set a watch over my mouth, And a seal of shrewdness upon my lips, That I fall not from it, and that my tongue destroy me not?
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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)