Chapter Twenty-Eight

“Forgive your neighbor – and the Lord will forgive you. Despise ignorance. Abstain from quarrels. Beware of gossip and double-tongued speech. Be careful with your words.”

Sirach 28:1. “The vengeful will receive vengeance from the Lord, Who will not forget his sins. Sirach 28:2. “Forgive your neighbor the injury, and then through your prayer your sins will be forgiven. Sirach 28:3. “A man harbors anger toward a man, yet seeks forgiveness from the Lord; Sirach 28:4. “He has no mercy on a man like himself and yet prays about his own sins; Sirach 28:5. “He himself, being flesh, harbors malice: who will cleanse his sins? Sirach 28:6. “Remember the end and cease from enmity; remember corruption and death and keep the commandments; “6. See Sir 7:39. Remember the end – that is, death, decay, judgment – cease from enmity and keep the commandments of the Lord.”

Sirach 28:7. “Remember the commandments and harbor no malice toward your neighbor; Sirach 28:8. “Remember the covenant of the Most High and despise ignorance. Sirach 28:9. “Abstain from quarrels – and you will lessen your sins; Sirach 28:10. “For an irritable man will kindle a quarrel; a sinful man will trouble friends and sow discord among those living in peace. Sirach 28:11. “According to the fuel, so will it ignite; Sirach 28:12. “And according to the strength of a man, so will his anger be, and according to his wealth his rage will be increased. Sirach 28:13. “A heated dispute kindles fire, and a heated quarrel sheds blood. Sirach 28:14. “If you blow on a spark, it will ignite, and if you spit on it, it will go out: both come from your mouth. Sirach 28:15. “A gossip and double-tongued man is cursed, for he has destroyed many who were living in peace; Sirach 28:16. “The third tongue has shaken many and scattered them from nation to nation, “16. The third tongue – that is, the deceitful tongue of a third party, in between two.”

Sirach 28:17. “And it has destroyed fortified cities and overthrown the houses of great men; Sirach 28:18. “The third tongue has driven away noble women and deprived them of the fruits of their labors; Sirach 28:19. “Whoever heeds it will find no rest and will not dwell in peace. Sirach 28:20. “A blow from a whip leaves a scar, and a blow from the tongue will shatter bones; Sirach 28:21. “Many have fallen by the edge of the sword, but not so many as have fallen by the tongue; Sirach 28:22. “Blessed is he who is sheltered from it, who has not experienced its wrath, who has not borne its yoke and was not bound by its bonds; Sirach 28:23. “For its yoke is an iron yoke, and its bonds are bronze bonds, Sirach 28:24. “A cruel death – its death, and the very abyss is better than it. Sirach 28:25. “It will not have power over the pious, and they will not burn in its flame; “25. It will not have power over – that is, the abyss (see verse 24) of evil speech and for evil speech.”

Sirach 28:26. “Those who forsake the Lord will fall into it; it will be kindled in them and will not be extinguished: it will be sent upon them like a lion and, like a leopard, will destroy them. Sirach 28:27. “See, fence your possession with thorns, Sirach 28:28. “Bind your silver and gold, Sirach 28:29. “And for your words make weight and measure, and for your mouth – a door and a bolt. “29. Be careful with what you say.”

Sirach 28:30. “Beware lest you stumble by them and fall before the evil-minded.