HOLY BIBLE: Sirach 19 (original) (raw)

13 ἔλεγξον φίλον μήποτε οὐκ ἐποίησεν καὶ εἴ τι ἐποίησεν μήποτε προσθῇ 14 ἔλεγξον τὸν πλησίον μήποτε οὐκ εἶπεν καὶ εἰ εἴρηκεν ἵνα μὴ δευτερώσῃ 15 ἔλεγξον φίλον πολλάκις γὰρ γίνεται διαβολή 16 καὶ μὴ παντὶ λόγῳ πίστευε ἔστιν ὀλισθάνων καὶ οὐκ ἀπὸ ψυχῆς 17 καὶ τίς οὐχ ἥμαρτεν ἐν τῇ γλώσσῃ αὐτοῦ ἔλεγξον τὸν πλησίον σου πρὶν ἢ ἀπειλῆσαι 18 καὶ δὸς τόπον νόμῳ ὑψίστου πᾶσα σοφία φόβος κυρίου καὶ ἐν πάσῃ σοφίᾳ ποίησις νόμου 19 καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν σοφία πονηρίας ἐπιστήμη καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ὅπου βουλὴ ἁμαρτωλῶν φρόνησις 20 ἔστιν πανουργία καὶ αὕτη βδέλυγμα καὶ ἔστιν ἄφρων ἐλαττούμενος σοφίᾳ 21 κρείττων ἡττώμενος ἐν συνέσει ἔμφοβος ἢ περισσεύων ἐν φρονήσει καὶ παραβαίνων νόμον 22 ἔστιν πανουργία ἀκριβὴς καὶ αὕτη ἄδικος 23 καὶ ἔστιν διαστρέφων χάριν τοῦ ἐκφᾶναι κρίμα ἔστιν πονηρευόμενος συγκεκυφὼς μελανίᾳ καὶ τὰ ἐντὸς αὐτοῦ πλήρη δόλου 24 συγκρύφων πρόσωπον καὶ ἐθελοκωφῶν ὅπου οὐκ ἐπεγνώσθη προφθάσει σε 25 καὶ ἐὰν ὑπὸ ἐλαττώματος ἰσχύος κωλυθῇ ἁμαρτεῖν ἐὰν εὕρῃ καιρόν κακοποιήσει 26 ἀπὸ ὁράσεως ἐπιγνωσθήσεται ἀνήρ καὶ ἀπὸ ἀπαντήσεως προσώπου ἐπιγνωσθήσεται νοήμων 27 στολισμὸς ἀνδρὸς καὶ γέλως ὀδόντων καὶ βήματα ἀνθρώπου ἀναγγελεῖ τὰ περὶ αὐτοῦ

13 Confront thy friend with his fault; it may be he knows nothing of the matter, and can clear himself; if not, there is hope he will amend. 14 Confront him with the word spoken amiss; it may be, he never said it, or if say it he did, never again will he repeat it. 15 Be open with thy friend; tongues will still be clattering,[2] 16 and thou dost well to believe less than is told thee. Slips there are of the tongue when mind is innocent; 17 what tongue was ever perfectly guarded? Confront thy neighbour with his fault ere thou quarrellest with him, 18 and let the fear of the most High God do its work.

What is true wisdom? Nothing but the fear of God. And since the fear of God is contained in all true wisdom, it must be directed by his law; 19 wisdom is none in following the maxims of impiety, prudence is none in scheming as the wicked scheme. 20 Cunning rogues they may be, yet altogether abominable; a fool he must ever be called, that lacks the true wisdom.[3] 21 Better a simpleton that wit has none, yet knows fear, than a man of great address, that breaks the law of the most High. 22 Exact and adroit even a rogue may be; 23 it is another thing to utter the plain word that tells the whole truth. Here is one that wears the garb of penance for wicked ends, his heart full of guile; 24 here is one that bows and scrapes, and walks with bent head, feigning not to see what is best left unnoticed, 25 and all because he is powerless to do thee a harm; if the chance of villainy comes, he will take it. 26 Yet a man’s looks betray him; a man of good sense will make himself known to thee at first meeting; 27 the clothes he wears, the smile on his lips, his gait, will all make thee acquainted with a man’s character.

13
Corripe amicum,
ne forte non intellexerit, et dicat: Non feci:
aut, si fecerit, ne iterum addat facere. 14
Corripe proximum, ne forte non dixerit:
et si dixerit, ne forte iteret. 15
Corripe amicum, sæpe enim fit commissio: 16
et non omni verbo credas.
Est qui labitur lingua, sed non ex animo: 17
quis est enim qui non deliquerit in lingua sua?

Corripe proximum antequam commineris,

18
et da locum timori Altissimi:
quia omnis sapientia timor Dei, et in illa timere Deum,
et in omni sapientia dispositio legis. 19
Et non est sapientia nequitiæ disciplina,
et non est cogitatus peccatorum prudentia. 20
Est nequitia, et in ipsa execratio,
et est insipiens qui minuitur sapientia. 21
Melior est homo qui minuitur sapientia,
et deficiens sensu, in timore,
quam qui abundat sensu,
et transgreditur legem Altissimi. 22
Est solertia certa, et ipsa iniqua: 23
et est qui emittit verbum certum enarrans veritatem.
Est qui nequiter humiliat se,
et interiora ejus plena sunt dolo: 24
et est qui se nimium submittit a multa humilitate:
et est qui inclinat faciem suam,
et fingit se non videre quod ignoratum est: 25
et si ab imbecillitate virium vetetur peccare,
si invenerit tempus malefaciendi, malefaciet. 26
Ex visu cognoscitur vir,
et ab occursu faciei cognoscitur sensatus. 27
Amictus corporis, et risus dentium,
et ingressus hominis, enuntiant de illo.

[1] vv. 8, 9: The sense of the Greek text is: ‘Do not tell tales about friend or foe; bring nothing to light, unless it were sin in thee (to keep silent). Friend or foe will hear of it, and will keep thee under his eye, waiting for the opportunity to shew his hatred of thee’.

[2] Literally, ‘for often there is competition’, i.e., in the retailing of scandal; the same word is used by the Latin version as in 18.32 above. The Greek text has, ‘often there is slander’.

[3] The first half of this verse runs, both in the Greek and in the Latin, ‘There is a wickedness (or, worthlessness), and it is an abomination’; a phrase which means little and does not suit the context. Evidently the Hebrew original contained some word which might be interpreted either as ‘prudence’ or as ‘wickedness’; e.g., the word used in the former sense by Prov. 1.4, and in the latter sense by Jer. 11.15.

Knox Translation Copyright © 2013 Westminster Diocese
Nihil Obstat. Father Anton Cowan, Censor.
Imprimatur. +Most Rev. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster. 8th January 2012.
Re-typeset and published in 2012 by Baronius Press Ltd