Chapter Twenty

Open rebuke is more profitable than hidden anger. Judgment with perversity is against nature. Sometimes silence is wise, and sometimes speech is foolish. Not every success brings good, not every acquisition brings benefit. Not every humiliation brings disgrace. The gift of a fool will be repaid at a high price. A wise man will refrain from sin and will not be ashamed to be virtuous.

Sirach 20:1. It is much better to rebuke than to be angry in secret; and the one rebuked in private will be warned against harm. Sirach 20:2. How good it is for the one rebuked to show repentance! Sirach 20:3. For he will escape willing sin. Sirach 20:4. What the desire of a eunuch to ravish a maiden is, that is one who renders judgment with violence. 4. The desire of perversity to overcome truth in judgment is as unnatural as the vile intention of a eunuch toward a maiden.

Sirach 20:5. One who is silent appears wise, but another is hated for much talkativeness. Sirach 20:6. One is silent because he has nothing to answer; another is silent because he knows the time. Sirach 20:7. A wise man will be silent until the right time; but a vain and foolish man will not wait for the time. Sirach 20:8. The talkative man becomes loathsome, and one who claims the right to speak will be hated. Sirach 20:9. There is success for a man toward evil, and a find toward loss. Sirach 20:10. There is a gift that will not be of benefit to you, and there is a gift for which there is double recompense. 9–10. Everything depends on how in this case man uses his success and find—for good for himself and his neighbors, or for evil.

Sirach 20:11. There is humiliation for the sake of glory, and another lifts his head from humiliation. Sirach 20:12. One buys much with little and pays for it seven times as much. 11–12. There is humiliation that is replaced by glory for a man; and it happens that glory far exceeds humiliation.

Sirach 20:13. The wise in words makes himself beloved, and the charm of fools will be in vain. Sirach 20:14. The gift of the fool will not be of benefit to you; for he has many eyes for receiving instead of one. Sirach 20:15. He gives little and reproaches much, and opens his mouth like a herald. Today he lends, tomorrow he demands it back: such a man is hated by the Lord and by men. Sirach 20:16. The fool says: “I have no friend, and there is no gratitude for my benefactions. Those who eat my bread flatter me with their tongue. Sirach 20:17. How often and how many will mock him! 14–17. The benefactions of an unwise benefactor do not always serve as comfort to the one benefited, because the unwise benefactor loves to make known what he has done and demands loud gratitude and quick compensation for his help from the person he has benefited.

Sirach 20:18. A stumbling from the earth is better than a stumbling from the tongue. Thus the fall of the wicked will soon come. 18. This is explained in verses 19–20. Everything is good in its time. And a wise word is beneficial when it is fitting. The foolish man does not understand this, and for his lack of understanding he is subjected to humiliation.

Sirach 20:19. An untimely man is an unwelcome tale; it will always be on the lips of the ignorant. Sirach 20:20. A parable from the mouth of a fool is repugnant, for he will not tell it at the right time. Sirach 20:21. One is held back from sin by poverty, and in this self-restraint he will not be sorrowful. Sirach 20:22. One destroys his soul through timidity, and destroys it by deferring to the fool. 22. Through timidity to stand openly for good; by deferring to the fool, that is, by yielding to the wicked.

Sirach 20:23. One makes promises to a friend out of shame, and without cause makes an enemy of him. 23. One makes promises to a friend out of shame, from false delicacy alone, and by not fulfilling them for some reason, without good reason makes an enemy of him.

Sirach 20:24. An evil vice in a man is a lie; in the mouths of the ignorant it is always present. Sirach 20:25. Better a thief than one who constantly speaks lies; but both will inherit destruction. Sirach 20:26. The conduct of the liar is shameful, and his shame is always with him. Sirach 20:27. The wise in words raises himself, and a man of understanding will be pleasing to magnates. Sirach 20:28. One who tills the earth increases his grain heap, and one who pleases magnates will obtain pardon in case of injustice. Sirach 20:29. Gifts and presents blind the eyes of the wise and, like a bridle in the mouth, turn away rebuke. 29. And, like a bridle in the mouth, turn away rebuke, that is, they prevent the speaking of necessary rebuke. This happens, but so it should not be.

Sirach 20:30. Hidden wisdom and concealed treasure—what benefit is there from both? Sirach 20:31. Better a man who hides his folly than a man who hides his wisdom.