Sirach 5 Clementine Vulgate
1 [Noli attendere ad possessiones iniquas, et ne dixeris: Est mihi sufficiens vita: nihil enim proderit in tempore vindictæ et obductionis.
1 Don’t set your heart upon your goods. Don’t say, “They are sufficient for me.”
2 Ne sequaris in fortitudine tua concupiscentiam cordis tui,
2 Don’t follow your own mind and your strength to walk in the desires of your heart.
3 et ne dixeris: Quomodo potui? aut, Quis me subjiciet propter facta mea? Deus enim vindicans vindicabit.
3 Don’t say, “Who will have dominion over me?” for the Lord will surely take vengeance on you.
4 Ne dixeris: Peccavi: et quid mihi accidit triste? Altissimus enim est patiens redditor.
4 Don’t say, “I sinned, and what happened to me?” for the Lord is patient.
5 De propitiatio peccato noli esse sine metu, neque adjicias peccatum super peccatum.
5 Don’t be so confident of atonement that you add sin upon sins.
6 Et ne dicas: Miseratio Domini magna est, multitudinis peccatorum meorum miserebitur:
6 Don’t say, “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 on sinners.
7 misericordia enim et ira ab illo cito proximant, et in peccatores respicit ira illius.
7 Don’t wait to turn to the Lord. Don’t put off from day to day; for suddenly the wrath of the Lord will come on you, and you will perish in the time of vengeance.
8 Non tardes converti ad Dominum, et ne differas de die in diem:
8 Don’t set your heart upon unrighteous gains, for you will profit nothing in the day of calamity.
9 subito enim veniet ira illius, et in tempore vindictæ disperdet te.
9 Don’t winnow with every wind. Don’t walk in every path. This is what the sinner who has a double tongue does.
10 Noli anxius esse in divitiis injustis: non enim proderunt tibi in die obductionis et vindictæ.]
10 Be steadfast in your understanding. Let your speech be consistent.
11 [Non ventiles te in omnem ventum, et non eas in omnem viam: sic enim omnis peccator probatur in duplici lingua.
11 Be swift to hear and answer with patience.
12 Esto firmus in via Domini, et in veritate sensus tui et scientia: et prosequatur te verbum pacis et justitiæ.
12 If you have understanding, answer your neighbor; but if not, put your hand over your mouth.
13 Esto mansuetus ad audiendum verbum, ut intelligas, et cum sapientia proferas responsum verum.
13 Glory and dishonor is in talk. A man’s tongue may be his downfall.
14 Si est tibi intellectus, responde proximo: sin autem, sit manus tua super os tuum, ne capiaris in verbo indisciplinato, et confundaris.
14 Don’t be called a whisperer. Don’t lie in wait with your tongue; for shame is on the thief, and an evil condemnation is on him who has a double tongue.
15 Honor et gloria in sermone sensati: lingua vero imprudentis subversio est ipsius.
15 Don’t be ignorant in a great or small matter.
16 Non appelleris susurro, et lingua tua ne capiaris et confundaris:
16 Not in this translation
17 super furem enim est confusio et pœnitentia, et denotatio pessima super bilinguem: susurratori autem odium, et inimicitia, et contumelia.
17 Not in this translation
18 Justifica pusillum et magnum similiter.]
18 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).
… 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)