Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 27

CHAPTER 27

1Many men have trespassed for neediness [or mis-ease] ; and he that seeketh to be made rich, turneth away his eye.

2As a stake [or a pale] is fastened in the midst of a heap [or a joining] of stones, so and a man shall be an-guished by sins betwixt the midst of selling and buying. Trespass shall be all-broken with him that trespasseth.

3If thou holdest not thee diligently in the dread of the Lord, thine house shall soon be turned upside-down.

4As dust shall dwell in the holes of a riddle, so the anguish of a man shall dwell in the thoughts of him.

5A furnace proveth the vessels of a potter; and the temptation of tribu-lation proveth just [or rightwise] men.

6As churl-like travail [or earth-working] about a tree showeth the fruit thereof, so a word of thought showeth the heart of man.

7Praise thou not a man before a word fully ended ; for why this is the temptation, that is, proving , of men.

8If thou pursuest rightfulness [or followest rightwiseness] , thou shalt take it; thou shalt clothe it as a long cloth [or aube] of honour, and thou shalt dwell with it, and it shall defend thee without end, and in the day of knowing thou shalt find steadfastness.

9Volatiles [or Fowls] come together to birds like themselves; and truth shall turn again to them that work it.

10A lion setteth espies ever to hunting [or A lion to hunting waiteth evermore] ; so sins to them that work wickedness.

11An holy man dwelleth in wisdom, as the sun dwelleth ; for why a fool is changed as the moon.

12In the midst of unwise men keep thou a word to time; but be thou busy in the midst of them that think the law of God.

13The telling of sinners is hateful; and the laughing of them is in the trespasses of sin.

14Speech swearing much shall make standing up of hairs, for aston-ishing, to the head; and unreverence thereof [or irreverence of it] is stop-ping of ears.

15The shedding out of blood is in the chiding [or jangling] of proud men; and the cursing of them is grievous hearing, for in their chiding they blaspheme God often, and it is full grievous to faithful ears to hear such blasphemy of God .

16He that showeth openly the privates of a friend, loseth faithfulness [or the faith of a friend] ; and he shall not find a friend to his soul.

17Love thou a neighbour, and be thou joined with him in faith. For if thou showest openly the privates of him, thou shalt not perfectly pursue after him [or pursue thou not after him] .

18For as a man that loseth his friend, so he that loseth the friendship of his neighbour.

19And as a man that letteth go a bird from [or out of] his hand, so thou that hast forsaken thy neighbour, and thou shalt not take him.

20Thou shalt not pursue [or follow] him, for he is far absent [or away] ; for he escaped as a capret from a snare, for the soul of him is wounded.

21Thou shalt no more be able to bind him together; but of evil saying is according. Soothly to show openly the privates of a friend, is despair of a soul unblessed, [or To make naked forsooth the privates of a friend, is the despairing of the unfaithful soul] .

22He that twinkleth with the eye, maketh [or forgeth] wicked things; and no man shall cast him away.

23In the sight of thine eyes he shall defoul his mouth, and he shall wonder on thy words; but at the last he shall turn waywardly [or shall pervert] his mouth, and in his word [or in thy words] he shall give slander.

24I [have] heard many things, that is, evils , and I made them not even to him, yea, I areckoned not another malice even to the malice of this man ; and the Lord shall hate him.

25If a man casteth a stone on high, it shall fall on his head; and the guileful wound of a guileful [or treacherous] man shall part wounds.

26And he that diggeth a ditch, shall fall into it; and he that setteth a stone to a neighbour, shall offend therein [or stumble in it] ; and he that setteth a snare to another man, shall perish therein.

27If a man maketh worst [or wicked] counsel, it shall be turned on him; and he shall not know from whence it shall come to him.

28The scorning and despising of proud men and vengeance shall set espy to him, as a lion doeth. [Illusion, or scorn, and reproof of proud men and vengeance, as a lion shall espy to him.]

29They that delight in the fall of just [or rightwise] men, shall perish by a snare; forsooth sorrow shall waste them, before that they die.

30Ire [or Wrath] and madness or rage, ever either be abominable; and a sinful man shall hold those [or them] .

Wycliffe’s Bible with Modern Spelling ©2017 Wycliffe’s Apocrypha ©2013, 2015 Wycliffe’s Bible © 2012, 2015 Wycliffe’s New Testament ©2001, 2011 Wycliffe’s Old Testament ©2001, 2010 
Published by: Terence P. Noble