The In-Dept Study of the Bible
Son of Sirach 22
1 A slothful man is compared to a stone that
is defiled. Everyone will hiss at him
in his disgrace.
2 A slothful man is compared to the filth of
a dunghill. Any one who picks it up will shake it
out of his hand.
3 An undisciplined child is a disgrace to his
father, and a foolish daughter is
born to his loss.
4 A prudent daughter will inherit a
husband of her own. She who brings
shame is the grief of her father.
5 She who is arrogant brings shame on
father and husband. She will be despised
by both of them.
6 Ill-timed conversation is like music in
mourning, but stripes and correction are wisdom
in every season.
7 He who teaches a fool is like one who
glues potsherds together, even like one
who wakes a sleeper out of a deep sleep.
8 He who teaches a fool is as one who
teaches a man who slumbers.
In the end he will say, “What is it?”
9-10 †
11 Weep for the dead, for he lacks light.
Weep for a fool, for he lacks understanding.
Weep more sweetly for the dead, because
he has found rest, but the life of the
fool is worse than death.
12 Mourning for the dead lasts seven days,
but for a fool and an ungodly man, it
lasts all the days of his life.
13 Don’t talk much with a foolish man,
and don’t go to one who has no understanding.
Beware of him, lest you have trouble and
be defiled in his onslaught. Turnaway from
him, and you willfind rest, and you won’t
be wearied in his madness.
14 What would be heavier than lead?
What is its name, but “Fool”?
15 Sand, salt, and a mass of iron is easier to
bear than a man without understanding.
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.
17 A heart settled upon a thoughtful understanding
is as an ornament of plaster on a polished wall.
18 Fences 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.
19 He who pricks the eye will make tears
fall. He who pricks the heart makes
it show feeling.
20 Whoever casts a stone at birds scares
them away. He who insults a friend
will dissolve friendship.
21 If you have drawn a sword against a
friend, don’t despair, for there may
be a way back.
22 If you have opened your mouth against
a friend, don’t be afraid, for there may
be reconciliation, unless it is for insulting,
arrogance, disclosing of a secret, or a
treacherous blow for these things
any friend will flee.
23 Gain trust with your neighbor in his
poverty, that in his prosperity you may have
gladness. Stay steadfast to him in the time of his
affliction, that you may be heir with him in his
inheritance.‡
24 Before fire is the vapor and smoke of a
furnace, so insults precede bloodshed.
25 I won’t be ashamed to shelter a friend.
I won’t hide myself from his face.
26 If any evil happens to me because of him,
everyone who hears it will beware of him.
27 Who will set a watch over my mouth,
and a seal of shrewdness upon my lips,
that I may not fall from it, and that my
tongue may not destroy me?