Sefer ben Sirah — Chapter 22
HaSefarim™ · Passage ID 6a9d5440d3cd0027a3b51e89 · Passage external ID sefer_042_sefer_ben_sirah_ch_22_v_008 · Work ID 6a9d542a04372fa6bcad8167 · Canonical Sefer title Sefer ben Sirah · Chapter ID 6a9d542a2f7435dcf684e8f7 · Chapter Chapter 22 · Passage label 8 · Passage number 8 · Publication status published · Access visibility PUBLIC_FULL
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One who recounts to a fool recounts to one nodding off; at the end he says, “What is it?” 11 Weep for the dead, for light has ceased; and weep for a fool, for understanding has ceased. Weep more gently for the dead, because he has rested, but the evil life of a fool is worse than death. 12 Mourning for the dead is seven days, but for a fool and a profane one, all the days of his life. 13 Do not multiply words with one without sense, and do not walk with one lacking understanding. Guard yourself from him, lest you have trouble and be defiled when he shakes himself. Turn aside from him and you shall find rest, and you shall not be wearied by his madness. 14 What is heavier than lead? And what is its name except “fool”? 15 Sand and salt and a lump of iron are easier to bear than an Adam without understanding. 16 A wooden binding joined into a building is not loosened by shaking; so a heart established upon considered counsel does not become fearful in its appointed time. 17 A heart founded upon thoughtful understanding is like ornamented plaster upon a polished wall. 18 Stakes set upon a height do not endure before the wind; so a fearful heart within the thought of a fool does not endure before any terror. 19 One who pricks an eye causes tears to fall, and one who pricks a heart reveals feeling. 20 One who throws a stone at flying creatures drives them away, and one who reproaches a companion dissolves companionship. 21 If you draw a sword against a companion, do not despair, for there may be a return. 22 If you open your mouth against a companion, do not fear, for there may be reconciliation— except after reproach, pride, disclosure of a secret, or a deceitful wound; because of these every companion flees. 23 Acquire trust with your neighbor in his poverty, that you may be filled together in his good things. Remain with him in an appointed time of distress, that you may share his inheritance. 24 Before fire come the vapor and smoke of a furnace; so abuses come before bloodshed. 25 I shall not be ashamed to cover a companion, and I shall not hide from his face. 26 If evils happen to me because of him, everyone who hears shall guard himself from him. 27 Who shall set a guard upon my mouth and a discerning seal upon my lips, that I may not fall because of them and my tongue destroy me?