Sirach 19 Clementine Vulgate
1 [Operarius ebriosus non locupletabitur: et qui spernit modica paulatim decidet.
1 A worker who is a drunkard will not become rich. He who despises small things will fall little by little.
2 Vinum et mulieres apostatare faciunt sapientes, et arguent sensatos.
2 Wine and women will make men of understanding go astray. He who joins with prostitutes is reckless.
3 Et qui se jungit fornicariis erit nequam: putredo et vermes hæreditabunt illum: et extolletur in exemplum majus, et tolletur de numero anima ejus.]
3 Decay and worms will have him as their heritage. A reckless soul will be taken away.
4 [Qui credit cito levis corde est, et minorabitur: et qui delinquit in animam suam, insuper habebitur.
4 He who is hasty to trust is shallow-hearted. He who sins offends against his own soul.
5 Qui gaudet iniquitate, denotabitur: et qui odit correptionem, minuetur vita: et qui odit loquacitatem, extinguit malitiam.
5 He who rejoices in wickedness will be condemned.
6 Qui peccat in animam suam, pœnitebit: et qui jucundatur in malitia, denotabitur.
6 He who hates gossip has less wickedness.
7 Ne iteres verbum nequam et durum, et non minoraberis.
7 Never repeat what is told you, and you won’t lose anything.
8 Amico et inimico noli narrare sensum tuum: et si est tibi delictum, noli denudare:
8 Whether it is of friend or foe, don’t tell it. Unless it is a sin to you, don’t reveal it.
9 audiet enim te, et custodiet te, et quasi defendens peccatum, odiet te, et sic aderit tibi semper.
9 For if he has heard you and observed you, when the time comes, he will hate you.
10 Audisti verbum adversus proximum tuum? commoriatur in te, fidens quoniam non te dirumpet.
10 Have you heard something? Let it die with you. Be brave: it will not make you burst!
11 A facie verbi parturit fatuus, tamquam gemitus partus infantis.
11 A fool will travail in pain with a word, as a woman in labor with a child.
12 Sagitta infixa femori carnis, sic verbum in corde stulti.
12 As an arrow that sticks in the flesh of the thigh, so is gossip in a fool.
13 Corripe amicum, ne forte non intellexerit, et dicat: Non feci: aut, si fecerit, ne iterum addat facere.
13 Question a friend; it may be he didn’t do it. If he did something, it may be that he may do it no more.
14 Corripe proximum, ne forte non dixerit: et si dixerit, ne forte iteret.
14 Question your neighbor; it may be he didn’t say it. If he has said it, it may be that he may not say it again.
15 Corripe amicum, sæpe enim fit commissio:
15 Question a friend; for many times there is slander. Don’t trust every word.
16 et non omni verbo credas. Est qui labitur lingua, sed non ex animo:
16 There is one who slips, and not from the heart. Who is he who hasn’t sinned with his tongue?
17 quis est enim qui non deliquerit in lingua sua?] [Corripe proximum antequam commineris,
17 Reprove your neighbor before you threaten him; and give place to the law of the Most High.
18 et da locum timori Altissimi: quia omnis sapientia timor Dei, et in illa timere Deum, et in omni sapientia dispositio legis.
18 Not in this translation
19 Et non est sapientia nequitiæ disciplina, et non est cogitatus peccatorum prudentia.
19 Not in this translation
20 Est nequitia, et in ipsa execratio, et est insipiens qui minuitur sapientia.
20 All wisdom is the fear of the Lord. In all wisdom is the doing of the law.
21 Melior est homo qui minuitur sapientia, et deficiens sensu, in timore, quam qui abundat sensu, et transgreditur legem Altissimi.
21 Not in this translation
22 Est solertia certa, et ipsa iniqua:
22 The knowledge of wickedness is not wisdom. The prudence of sinners is not counsel.
23 et est qui emittit verbum certum enarrans veritatem. Est qui nequiter humiliat se, et interiora ejus plena sunt dolo:
23 There is a wickedness, and it is an abomination. There is a fool lacking in wisdom.
24 et est qui se nimium submittit a multa humilitate: et est qui inclinat faciem suam, et fingit se non videre quod ignoratum est:
24 Better is one who has little understanding, and fears God, than one who has much intelligence and transgresses the law.
25 et si ab imbecillitate virium vetetur peccare, si invenerit tempus malefaciendi, malefaciet.
25 There is an exquisite subtlety, and it is unjust. And there is one who perverts favor to gain a judgment.
26 Ex visu cognoscitur vir, et ab occursu faciei cognoscitur sensatus.
26 There is one who does wickedly, who hangs down his head with mourning; but inwardly he is full of deceit,
27 Amictus corporis, et risus dentium, et ingressus hominis, enuntiant de illo.
27 bowing down his face, and pretending to be deaf in one ear. Where he isn’t known, he will take advantage of you.
28 Est correptio mendax in ira contumeliosi, et est judicium quod non probatur esse bonum: et est tacens, et ipse est prudens.]
28 And if for lack of power he is hindered from sinning, if he finds opportunity, he will do mischief. 29 A man will be known by his appearance. One who has understanding will be known by his face when you meet him. 30 A man’s attire, grinning laughter, and the way he walks show what he is.
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).
And so unto that little, adding daily littles (for "he that contemneth small things shall fall by little and little"), she contracted such a habit as, to drink off eagerly her little cup nearly full of wine.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 1 (1886)