Ben Sira 19:5-17
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
The Proper Use of Speech[a]
5 Whoever gloats over evil will be destroyed,
6 and whoever repeats gossip has no sense.
7 Never repeat gossip,
and no one will reproach you.(A)
8 Tell nothing to friend or foe;
and unless it be a sin for you, do not reveal a thing.(B)
9 For someone may have heard you and watched you,
and in time come to hate you.
10 Let anything you hear die with you;
never fear, it will not make you burst!
11 Having heard something, the fool goes into labor,
like a woman giving birth to a child.
12 Like an arrow stuck in a fool’s thigh,
so is gossip in the belly of a fool.
13 Admonish your friend—he may not have done it;
and if he did, that he may not do it again.(C)
14 Admonish your neighbor—he may not have said it;
and if he did, that he may not say it again.
15 Admonish your friend—often it may be slander;
do not believe every story.
16 Then, too, a person can slip and not mean it;
who has not sinned with his tongue?(D)
17 Admonish your neighbor before you break with him;
and give due place to the Law of the Most High.[b](E)
Footnotes
- 19:5–17 An excellent commentary on bearing false witness (Ex 20:16; Dt 5:20). Ben Sira speaks harshly about calumny, rash judgment, and detraction (vv. 5–7), and urges discreet silence (vv. 8–12). Justice requires that an accused neighbor be given a hearing, and charity urges fraternal correction; both together fulfill the law of the Most High (vv. 13–17); cf. Mt 7:1–2; 18:15–16.
- 19:17
Other ancient texts read as vv. 18–19:
18Fear of the Lord is the beginning of acceptance;
and wisdom from him obtains love.
19Knowledge of the Lord’s commandments is life-giving instruction;
those who do what pleases him will harvest the fruit of the tree of immortality.
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