Sirach 21 Clementine Vulgate
1 [Fili, peccasti, non adjicias iterum: sed et de pristinis deprecare, ut tibi dimittantur.
1 My son, have you sinned? Do it no more; and ask forgiveness for your past sins.
2 Quasi a facie colubri fuge peccata: et si accesseris ad illa, suscipient te.
2 Flee from sin as from the face of a snake; for if you go near, it will bite you. Its teeth are like lion’s teeth, slaying people’s souls.
3 Dentes leonis dentes ejus, interficientes animas hominum.
3 All iniquity is as a two-edged sword. Its stroke has no healing.
4 Quasi rhomphæa bis acuta omnis iniquitas: plagæ illius non est sanitas.
4 Terror and violence will waste away riches. So the house of an arrogant man will be laid waste.
5 Objurgatio et injuriæ annullabunt substantiam, et domus quæ nimis locuples est annullabitur superbia: sic substantia superbi eradicabitur.
5 Supplication from a poor man’s mouth reaches to the ears of God, and his judgment comes speedily.
6 Deprecatio pauperis ex ore usque ad aures ejus perveniet, et judicium festinato adveniet illi.
6 One who hates reproof is in the path of the sinner. He who fears the Lord will repent in his heart.
7 Qui odit correptionem vestigium est peccatoris, et qui timet Deum convertetur ad cor suum.
7 He who is mighty in tongue is known far away; but the man of understanding knows when he slips.
8 Notus a longe potens lingua audaci, et sensatus scit labi se ab ipso.
8 He who builds his house with other men’s money is like one who gathers stones for his own tomb.
9 Qui ædificat domum suam impendiis alienis, quasi qui colligat lapides suos in hieme.
9 The congregation of wicked men is as a bundle of tow with a flame of fire at the end of them.
10 Stupa collecta synagoga peccantium, et consummatio illorum flamma ignis.
10 The way of sinners is paved with stones; and at the end of it is the pit of Hades.
11 Via peccatorum complanata lapidibus: et in fine illorum inferi, et tenebræ, et pœnæ.]
11 He who keeps the law becomes master of its intent. The fulfilment of the fear of the Lord is wisdom.
12 [Qui custodit justitiam, continebit sensum ejus.
12 He who is not clever will not be instructed. There is a cleverness which makes bitterness abound.
13 Consummatio timoris Dei, sapientia et sensus.
13 The knowledge of a wise man will be made to abound as a flood, and his counsel as a fountain of life.
14 Non erudietur qui non est sapiens in bono.
14 The inward parts of a fool are like a broken vessel. He will hold no knowledge.
15 Est autem sapientia quæ abundat in malo, et non est sensus ubi est amaritudo.
15 If a man of knowledge hears a wise word, he will commend it and add to it. The wanton man hears it, and it displeases him, so he throws it away behind his back.
16 Scientia sapientis tamquam inundatio abundabit, et consilium illius sicut fons vitæ permanet.
16 The chatter of a fool is like a burden in the way, but grace will be found on the lips of the wise.
17 Cor fatui quasi vas confractum, et omnem sapientiam non tenebit.
17 The utterance of the prudent man will be sought for in the congregation. They will ponder his words in their heart.
18 Verbum sapiens quodcumque audierit scius, laudabit, et ad se adjiciet: audivit luxuriosus, et displicebit illi, et projiciet illud post dorsum suum.
18 As a house that is destroyed, so is wisdom to a fool. The knowledge of an unwise man is talk without sense.
19 Narratio fatui quasi sarcina in via: nam in labiis sensati invenietur gratia.
19 Instruction is as fetters on the feet of an unwise man, and as manacles on the right hand.
20 Os prudentis quæritur in ecclesia, et verba illius cogitabunt in cordibus suis.
20 A fool lifts up his voice with laughter, but a clever man smiles quietly.
21 Tamquam domus exterminata, sic fatuo sapientia: et scientia insensati inenarrabilia verba.
21 Instruction is to a prudent man as an ornament of gold, and as a bracelet upon his right arm.
22 Compedes in pedibus, stulto doctrina: et quasi vincula manuum super manum dextram.
22 The foot of a fool rushes into a house, but a man of experience will be ashamed of entering.
23 Fatuus in risu exaltat vocem suam: vir autem sapiens vix tacite ridebit.
23 A foolish man peers into the door of a house, but a man who is instructed will stand outside.
24 Ornamentum aureum prudenti doctrina, et quasi brachiale in brachio dextro.
24 It is rude for someone to listen at a door, but a prudent person will be grieved with the disgrace.
25 Pes fatui facilis in domum proximi: et homo peritus confundetur a persona potentis.
25 The lips of strangers will be grieved at these things, but the words of prudent men will be weighed in the balance.
26 Stultus a fenestra respiciet in domum: vir autem eruditus foris stabit.
26 The heart of fools is in their mouth, but the mouth of wise men is their heart.
27 Stultitia hominis auscultare per ostium: et prudens gravabitur contumelia.
27 When the ungodly curses an adversary, he curses his own soul.
28 Labia imprudentium stulta narrabunt; verba autem prudentium statera ponderabuntur.
28 A whisperer defiles his own soul, and will be hated wherever he travels.
29 In ore fatuorum cor illorum, et in corde sapientium os illorum.
29 Not in this translation
30 Dum maledicit impius diabolum, maledicit ipse animam suam.
30 Not in this translation
31 Susurro coinquinabit animam suam, et in omnibus odietur, et qui cum eo manserit odiosus erit: tacitus et sensatus honorabitur.]
31 Not in this translation
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).
… shalt neglect to cure what is past, as it is written, "Son, thou hast sinned, do so no more." And that he might not think to be secure by this only, he saith, "And for thy former sins pray that they may be forgiven thee." But what will it profit thee to pray for forgiveness, if thou shalt not make …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 6 (1888)