Sirach chapter 22
[This chapter is in Orthodox and Catholic Bibles] Fools are lazy. Preserve your friendships. Control your own tongue, Part 1.
The Book of Sirach is recognized as Deuterocanonical Scripture by the Orthodox and Catholic Churches
FOOLS ARE LAZY
VERSE 1. A slothful man is compared to a stone that is defiled; And every one will hiss him out in his disgrace.
VERSE 2. A slothful man is compared to the filth of a dunghill: Every man that takes it up will shake out his hand.
VERSE 3. A father has shame in having begotten an uninstructed son; And a foolish daughter is born to his loss.
VERSE 4. A prudent daughter will inherit a husband of her own; And she that brings shame is the grief of her father.
VERSE 5. She that is bold brings shame upon father and husband; And she will be despised of them both.
VERSE 6. Unseasonable discourse is as music in mourning; But stripes and correction are wisdom at every season.
VERSE 7. He that teaches a fool is as one that glues a potsherd together; Even as one that wakes a sleeper out of a deep sleep.
Teaching a fool is like gluing a broken pot.
VERSE 8. He who teaches a fool is as one who teaches a man who slumbers; And at the end he will say, What is it?
VERSE 9.
This verse is omitted in the best manuscripts.
VERSE 10. Weep but a little over the dead man, for he is at rest; but worse than death is the life of a fool.
This verse is omitted in the best manuscripts.
worse than death is the life of a fool. Fools live a miserable life.
They are arrogant and loudmouthed. They have contempt for other people.
They are almost never happy, except when they are making someone else suffer.
VERSE 11. Weep for the dead, for light has failed him; And weep for a fool, for understanding has failed him: Weep more sweetly for the dead, because he has found rest; But the life of the fool is worse than death.
the life of the fool is worse than death. The miserable existence of a fool goes on and on, year after year, until finally they die.
VERSE 12. Seven days are the days of mourning for the dead; But for a fool and an ungodly man, all the days of his life.
VERSE 13. Talk not much with a foolish man, And go not to one that has no understanding: Beware of him, lest you have trouble; And so you shall not be defiled in his onslaught: Turn away from him, and you will find rest; And so you shall not be wearied in his madness.
Talk not much with a foolish man. Fools are to be avoided.
VERSE 14. What shall be heavier than lead? And what is the name thereof, but a fool?
VERSE 15. Sand, and salt, and a mass of iron, is easier to bear, Than a man without understanding.
VERSE 16. Timber girded and bound into a building will not be released with shaking: So a heart established in due season on well advised counsel will not be afraid.
a heart established … on well advised counsel. Our resolve is strongest when it is based not only our own convictions, but also on the advice of wise people.
VERSE 17. A heart settled upon a thoughtful understanding Is as an ornament of plaster on a polished wall.
VERSE 18. Pales set on a high place will not stand against the wind: So a fearful heart in the imagination of a fool will not stand against any fear.
PRESERVE YOUR FRIENDSHIPS
VERSE 19. He that pricks the eye will make tears to fall; And he that pricks the heart makes it to show feeling.
VERSE 20. Whoso casts a stone at birds frays them away; And he that upbraids a friend will dissolve friendship.
he that upbraids a friend. To insult a friend is to break a friendship.
VERSE 21. If you have drawn a sword against a friend, despair not; For there may be a returning.
VERSE 22. If you have opened your mouth against a friend, fear not; For there may be a reconciling; Except it be for upbraiding, and arrogance, and disclosing of a secret, and a treacherous blow: For these things every friend will flee.
VERSE 23. Gain trust with your neighbor in his poverty, That in his prosperity you may have gladness: Stay stedfast to him in the time of his affliction, That you may be heir with him in his inheritance.
The remainder of this verse is omitted in the best manuscripts.
Gain trust with your neighbor in his poverty. The Lord Jesus Christ said something like this:
Luke 16:9. I tell you, make for yourselves friends by means of unrighteous mammon, so that when you fail, they may receive you into the eternal tents.
VERSE 24. Before fire is the vapor and smoke of a furnace; So revilings before bloodshed.
VERSE 25. I will not be ashamed to shelter a friend; And I will not hide myself from his face:
VERSE 26. And if any evil happen to me because of him, Every one that hears it will beware of him.
CONTROL YOUR OWN TONGUE, PART 1
VERSE 27. Who shall set a watch over my mouth, And a seal of shrewdness upon my lips, That I fall not from it, and that my tongue destroy me not?
Who shall set a watch over my mouth. Simply put, you are.
You are the one to control your own tongue.
SIRACH
CHAPTERS: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51
RESOURCES: Summary, Outline, Memorize, Chronology
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