Sirach 28 Clementine Vulgate
1 [Qui vindicari vult, a Domino inveniet vindictam, et peccata illius servans servabit.
1 He who takes vengeance will find vengeance from the Lord, and he will surely make his sins firm.
2 Relinque proximo tuo nocenti te, et tunc deprecanti tibi peccata solventur.
2 Forgive your neighbor the hurt that he has done, and then your sins will be pardoned when you pray.
3 Homo homini reservat iram, et a Deo quærit medelam:
3 Does anyone harbor anger against another and expect healing from the Lord?
4 in hominem similem sibi non habet misericordiam, et de peccatis suis deprecatur.
4 Upon a man like himself he has no mercy, and does he make supplication for his own sins?
5 Ipse cum caro sit reservat iram, et propitiationem petit a Deo: quis exorabit pro delictis illius?
5 He himself, being flesh, nourishes wrath. Who will make atonement for his sins?
6 Memento novissimorum, et desine inimicari:
6 Remember your last end, and stop enmity. Remember corruption and death, and be true to the commandments.
7 tabitudo enim et mors imminent in mandatis ejus.
7 Remember the commandments, and don’t be angry with your neighbor. Remember the covenant of the Highest, and overlook ignorance.
8 Memorare timorem Dei, et non irascaris proximo.
8 Abstain from strife, and you will diminish your sins, for a passionate man will kindle strife.
9 Memorare testamentum Altissimi, et despice ignorantiam proximi.
9 A man who is a sinner will trouble friends and sow discord among those who are at peace.
10 Abstine te a lite, et minues peccata.
10 As is the fuel of the fire, so it will burn; and as the stoutness of the strife is, so it will burn. As is the strength of the man, so will be his wrath; and as is his wealth, so he will exalt his anger.
11 Homo enim iracundus incendit litem, et vir peccator turbabit amicos, et in medio pacem habentium immittet inimicitiam.
11 A contention begun in haste kindles a fire; and hasty fighting sheds blood.
12 Secundum enim ligna silvæ sic ignis exardescit: et secundum virtutem hominis sic iracundia illius erit, et secundum substantiam suam exaltabit iram suam.
12 If you blow on a spark, it will burn; and if you spit upon it, it will be quenched. Both of these come out of your mouth.
13 Certamen festinatum incendit ignem, et lis festinans effundit sanguinem: et lingua testificans adducit mortem.
13 Curse the whisperer and double-tongued, for he has destroyed many who were at peace.
14 Si sufflaveris in scintillam, quasi ignis exardebit: et si exspueris super illam, extinguetur: utraque ex ore proficiscuntur.]
14 A slanderer has shaken many, and dispersed them from nation to nation. It has pulled down strong cities and overthrown the houses of great men.
15 [Susurro et bilinguis maledictus, multos enim turbabit pacem habentes.
15 A slanderer has cast out brave women and deprived them of their labors.
16 Lingua tertia multos commovit, et dispersit illos de gente in gentem.
16 He who listens to it will not find rest, nor will he live quietly.
17 Civitates muratas divitum destruxit, et domus magnatorum effodit.
17 The stroke of a whip makes a mark in the flesh, but the stroke of a tongue will break bones.
18 Virtutes populorum concidit, et gentes fortes dissolvit.
18 Many have fallen by the edge of the sword, yet not so many as those who have fallen because of the tongue.
19 Lingua tertia mulieres viratas ejecit, et privavit illas laboribus suis.
19 Happy is he who is sheltered from it, who has not passed through its wrath, who has not drawn its yoke, and has not been bound with its bands.
20 Qui respicit illam non habebit requiem, nec habebit amicum in quo requiescat.
20 For its yoke is a yoke of iron, and its bands are bands of brass.
21 Flagelli plaga livorem facit: plaga autem linguæ comminuet ossa.
21 Its death is an evil death, and Hades is better than it.
22 Multi ceciderunt in ore gladii: sed non sic quasi qui interierunt per linguam suam.
22 It will not have rule over godly men. They will not be burned in its flame.
23 Beatus qui tectus est a lingua nequam, qui in iracundiam illius non transivit, et qui non attraxit jugum illius, et in vinculis ejus non est ligatus:
23 Those who forsake the Lord will fall into it. It will burn among them, and won’t be quenched. It will be sent against them like a lion. It will destroy them like a leopard.
24 jugum enim illius jugum ferreum est, et vinculum illius vinculum æreum est;
24 As you hedge your possession about with thorns, and secure your silver and your gold,
25 mors illius mors nequissima: et utilis potius infernus quam illa.
25 so make a balance and a weight for your words, and make a door and a bar for your mouth.
26 Perseverantia illius non permanebit, sed obtinebit vias injustorum, et in flamma sua non comburet justos.
26 Take heed lest you slip with it, lest you fall before one who lies in wait.
27 Qui relinquunt Deum incident in illam, et exardebit in illis, et non extinguetur, et immittetur in illos quasi leo, et quasi pardus lædet illos.
27 Not in this translation
28 Sepi aures tuas spinis: linguam nequam noli audire: et ori tuo facito ostia et seras.
28 Not in this translation
29 Aurum tuum et argentum tuum confla, et verbis tuis facito stateram, et frenos ori tuo rectos:
29 Not in this translation
30 et attende ne forte labaris in lingua, et cadas in conspectu inimicorum insidiantium tibi, et sit casus tuus insanabilis in mortem.]
30 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).
One man keepeth anger against another, and doth he seek healing of God?" "And yet He allowed, eye for eye,' and tooth for tooth,' how then doth He find fault?" Because He allowed even those things, not that we should do them one to another, but that through the fear of suffering, we might abstain from the commission of crime.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)