Sirach 27 Clementine Vulgate
1 [Propter inopiam multi deliquerunt: et qui quærit locupletari avertit oculum suum.
1 Many have sinned for profit. He who seeks to multiply wealth will turn his eye away.
2 Sicut in medio compaginis lapidum palus figitur, sic et inter medium venditionis et emptionis angustiabitur peccatum:
2 As a nail will stick fast between the joinings of stones, so sin will thrust itself in between buying and selling.
3 conteretur cum delinquente delictum.
3 Unless a person holds on diligently to the fear of the Lord, his house will be overthrown quickly.
4 Si non in timore Domini tenueris te instanter, cito subvertetur domus tua.]
4 In the shaking of a sieve, the refuse remains, so does the filth of man in his thoughts.
5 [Sicut in percussura cribri remanebit pulvis, sic aporia hominis in cogitatu illius.
5 The furnace tests the potter’s vessels; so the test of a person is in his thoughts.
6 Vasa figuli probat fornax, et homines justos tentatio tribulationis.
6 The fruit of a tree discloses its cultivation, so is the utterance of the thought of a person’s heart.
7 Sicut rusticatio de ligno ostendit fructum illius, sic verbum ex cogitatu cordis hominis.
7 Praise no man before you hear his thoughts, for this is how people are tested.
8 Ante sermonem non laudes virum: hæc enim tentatio est hominum.
8 If you follow righteousness, you will obtain it, and put it on like a long robe of glory.
9 Si sequaris justitiam, apprehendes illam, et indues quasi poderem honoris: et inhabitabis cum ea, et proteget te in sempiternum, et in die agnitionis invenies firmamentum.
9 Birds will return to their own kind, so truth will return to those who practice it.
10 Volatilia ad sibi similia conveniunt: et veritas ad eos qui operantur illam revertetur.
10 The lion lies in wait for prey. So does sin for those who do evil.
11 Leo venationi insidiatur semper: sic peccata operantibus iniquitates.
11 The discourse of a godly man is always wise, but the fool changes like the moon.
12 Homo sanctus in sapientia manet sicut sol: nam stultus sicut luna mutatur.
12 Limit your time among people void of understanding, but persevere among the thoughtful.
13 In medio insensatorum serva verbum tempori: in medio autem cogitantium assiduus esto.
13 The talk of fools is offensive. Their laughter is wantonly sinful.
14 Narratio peccantium odiosa, et risus illorum in deliciis peccati.
14 Their talk with much swearing makes hair stand upright. Their strife makes others plug their ears.
15 Loquela multum jurans horripilationem capiti statuet, et irreverentia ipsius obturatio aurium.
15 The strife of the proud leads to bloodshed. Their abuse of each other is a grievous thing to hear.
16 Effusio sanguinis in rixa superborum, et maledictio illorum auditus gravis.
16 He who reveals secrets destroys trust, and will not find a close friend.
17 Qui denudat arcana amici fidem perdit, et non inveniet amicum ad animum suum.
17 Love a friend, and keep faith with him; but if you reveal his secrets, you shall not follow him;
18 Dilige proximum, et conjungere fide cum illo.
18 for as a man has destroyed his enemy, so you have destroyed the friendship of your neighbor.
19 Quod si denudaveris absconsa illius, non persequeris post eum.
19 As a bird which you have released out of your hand, so you have let your neighbor go, and you will not catch him again.
20 Sicut enim homo qui perdit amicum suum, sic et qui perdit amicitiam proximi sui.
20 Don’t pursue him, for he has gone far away, and has escaped like a gazelle out of the snare.
21 Et sicut qui dimittit avem de manu sua, sic dereliquisti proximum tuum, et non eum capies.
21 For a wound may be bound up, and after abuse there may be reconciliation; but he who reveals secrets is without hope.
22 Non illum sequaris, quoniam longe abest: effugit enim quasi caprea de laqueo, quoniam vulnerata est anima ejus:
22 One who winks the eye contrives evil things; and those who know him will keep their distance.
23 ultra eum non poteris colligare. Et maledicti est concordatio:
23 When you are present, he will speak sweetly, and will admire your words; but afterward he will twist his speech and set a trap in your words.
24 denudare autem amici mysteria, desperatio est animæ infelicis.]
24 I have hated many things, but nothing like him. The Lord will hate him.
25 [Annuens oculo fabricat iniqua, et nemo eum abjiciet.
25 One who casts a stone straight up casts it on his own head. A deceitful blow opens wounds.
26 In conspectu oculorum tuorum condulcabit os suum, et super sermones tuos admirabitur: novissime autem pervertet os suum, et in verbis tuis dabit scandalum.
26 He who digs a pit will fall into it. He who sets a snare will be caught in it.
27 Multa odivi, et non coæquavi ei, et Dominus odiet illum.
27 He who does evil things, they will roll back upon him, and he will not know where they came from.
28 Qui in altum mittit lapidem, super caput ejus cadet: et plaga dolosa dolosi dividet vulnera.
28 Mockery and reproach are from the arrogant. Vengeance lies in wait for them like a lion.
29 Et qui foveam fodit incidet in eam: et qui statuit lapidem proximo offendet in eo: et qui laqueum alii ponit, peribit in illo.
29 Those who rejoice at the fall of the godly will be caught in a snare. Anguish will consume them before they die.
30 Facienti nequissimum consilium, super ipsum devolvetur, et non agnoscet unde adveniat illi.
30 Wrath and anger, these also are abominations. A sinner will possess them.
31 Illusio et improperium superborum, et vindicta sicut leo insidiabitur illi.
31 Not in this translation
32 Laqueo peribunt qui oblectantur casu justorum, dolor autem consumet illos antequam moriantur.]
32 Not in this translation
33 [Ira et furor utraque execrabilia sunt, et vir peccator continens erit illorum.]
33 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).
… manifest: for the day shall declare it,"--the day, no doubt, of tribulation--"because," says he, "it shall be revealed by fire." He calls tribulation fire, just as it is elsewhere said, "The furnace proves the vessels of the potter, and the trial of affliction righteous men." And "The fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)
What Scripture says is very true, "As for a fool he changeth as the moon." I believe also that the variations of the moon do not take place without exerting great influence upon the organization of animals and of all living things.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 8 (1895)
For "the furnace proveth the potter's vessels, and the trial of tribulation righteous men." Joseph therefore was tempted with the allurement of debauchery, but he was not brought into temptation.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 6 (1888)