1 Set not thy heart upon thy goods; And say not, They are sufficient for me. 2 Follow not thine own mind and thy strength, To walk in the desires of thy heart; 3 And say not, Who shall have dominion over me? For the Lord will surely take vengeance on thee. 4 Say not, I sinned, and what happened unto me? For the Lord is longsuffering. 5 Concerning atonement, be not without fear, To add sin upon sins: 6 And say not, His compassion is great; He will be pacified for the multitude of my sins: For mercy and wrath are with him, And his indignation will rest upon sinners. 7 Make no tarrying to turn to the Lord; And put not off from day to day: For suddenly shall the wrath of the Lord come forth; And thou shalt perish in the time of vengeance. 8 Set not thine heart upon unrighteous gains: For thou shalt profit nothing in the day of calamity. 9 Winnow not with every wind, And walk not in every path: Thus doeth the sinner that hath a double tongue. 10 Be stedfast in thy understanding; And let thy word be one. 11 Be swift to hear; And with patience make thine answer. 12 If thou hast understanding, answer thy neighbour; And if not, let thy hand be upon thy mouth. 13 Glory and dishonour is in talk: And the tongue of a man is his fall. 14 Be not called a whisperer; And lie not in wait with thy tongue: For upon the thief there is shame, And an evil condemnation upon him that hath a double tongue. 15 In a great matter and in a small, be not ignorant;
Sirach · Revised Version with Apocrypha
Sirach 5 Revised Version with Apocrypha
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).
… despaired wrongly, and were lost in their despair, and called them back to hope; so doth He go forth to these also who would perish through an evil hope; and by another book He saith to them, "Make no tarrying to turn to the Lord." As He had said to the others, "In whatsoever day a man shall turn from …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 6 (1888)