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1Have you sinned, my child? Do so no more,[#Sir 5.5]
but ask forgiveness for your past sins.
2Flee from sin as from a snake,[#Prov 23.32]
for if you approach sin it will bite you.
Its teeth are lion’s teeth
and can destroy human lives.
3All lawlessness is like a two-edged sword;
there is no healing for the wound it inflicts.
4Panic and insolence will waste away riches;
thus the house of the proud will be uprooted.
5The prayer of the poor goes from their lips to the ears of God,[#Ex 3.9; Job 34.28; Ps 34.6; #21.5 Gk his ears]
and his judgment comes speedily.
6Those who hate reproof walk in the sinner’s steps,[#Prov 12.1; 15.10]
but those who fear the Lord repent in their heart.
7The mighty in speech are widely known;
when they slip, the sensible person knows it.
8Those who build their houses with other people’s money[#Hab 2.6]
are like those who gather stones for their own burial mounds.
9An assembly of the lawless is like a bundle of tinder,[#Isa 1.31; Sir 16.6]
and their end is a blazing fire.
10The way of sinners is paved with smooth stones,[#Prov 7.27]
but at its end is the pit of Hades.
11Those who keep the law control their thoughts,[#Sir 1.18, 26]
and the fulfillment of the fear of the Lord is wisdom.
12Those who are not clever cannot be taught,[#Sir 19.25]
but there is a cleverness that increases bitterness.
13The knowledge of the wise will increase like a flood[#Prov 13.14; 18.4; Sir 24.25, 26]
and their counsel like a life-giving spring.
14The mind of a fool is like a broken jar;[#Jer 2.13; Sir 19.12; #21.14 Syr Lat: Gk entrails]
it can hold no knowledge.
15When intelligent people hear a wise saying,[#Prov 1.5; 9.9]
they praise it and add to it;
when fools hear it, they laugh at it
and throw it behind their backs.
16The chatter of fools is like a burden on a journey,[#Eccl 10.12; Sir 20.13; 22.15; #21.16 Syr: Gk explanation]
but delight is found in the speech of the intelligent.
17The utterance of sensible people is sought in the assembly,
and they ponder their words in their minds.
18Like a house in ruins is wisdom to a fool,[#Prov 15.2]
and the knowledge of the ignorant is meaningless talk.
19To the senseless, education is fetters on their feet
and like manacles on their right hands.
20Fools raise their voices when they laugh,[#Eccl 7.4, 6; Sir 19.30]
but the wise smile quietly.
21To the sensible, education is like a golden ornament
and like a bracelet on the right arm.
22The foot of a fool rushes into a house,[#Prov 25.17; 1 Tim 5.13]
but an experienced person waits respectfully outside.
23A boor peers into the house from the door,
but a cultivated person remains outside.
24It is ill-mannered for a person to listen at a door;
the discreet would be grieved by the disgrace.
25The lips of babblers speak of what is not their concern,[#Sir 28.25; #21.25 Other ancient authorities read The lips of strangers speak of these things]
but the words of the prudent are weighed in the balance.
26The mind of fools is in their mouth,[#Prov 14.33; 29.11; Sir 8.17]
but the mouth of the wise is in their mind.
27When ungodly people curse an adversary,[#Ps 109.6, 7; Jn 8.44]
they curse themselves.
28Whisperers degrade themselves
and are hated in their neighborhoods.