Ecclesiasticus 22

¹A slothful man is compared to a stone that is defiled;

And every one will hiss him out in his disgrace.

²A slothful man is compared to the filth of a dunghill:

Every man that taketh it up will shake out his hand.

³A father hath shame in having begotten an uninstructed son ;[#Cp. Prov. 10.1.]

And a foolish daughter is born to his loss.

⁴A prudent daughter shall inherit a husband of her own;

And she that bringeth shame is the grief of him that begat her.

⁵She that is bold bringeth shame upon father and husband;[#Cp. Prov. 12.4.]

And she shall be despised of them both.

⁶Unseasonable discourse is as music in mourning;[#Cp. ch. 20.20.; #Cp. Prov. 25.20.]

But stripes and correction are wisdom at every season.

⁷He that teacheth a fool is as one that glueth a potsherd together;

Even as one that waketh a sleeper out of a deep sleep.

⁸He that discourseth to a fool is as one discoursing to a man that slumbereth;

And at the end he will say, What is it?

¹¹Weep for the dead, for light hath failed him ;[#ch. 38.16., Cp. Jer. 22.10.]

And weep for a fool, for understanding hath failed him :

Weep more sweetly for the dead, because he hath found rest;

But the life of the fool is worse than death.

¹²Seven days are the days of mourning for the dead;[#See Judith 16.24.]

But for a fool and an ungodly man, all the days of his life.

¹³TALK not much with a foolish man,

And go not to one that hath no understanding:

Beware of him, lest thou have trouble;

And so thou shalt not be defiled in his onslaught:

Turn aside from him, and thou shalt find rest;

And so thou shalt not be wearied in his madness.

¹⁴What shall be heavier than lead?

And what is the name thereof, but a fool?

¹⁵Sand, and salt, and a mass of iron, is easier to bear,[#Cp. Prov. 27.3.; #Cp. ch. 21.16.]

Than a man without understanding.

¹⁶TIMBER girt and bound into a building shall not be loosed with shaking:

So a heart established in due season on well advised counsel shall not be afraid.

¹⁷A heart settled upon a thoughtful understanding

Is as an ornament of plaister on a polished wall.

¹⁸Pales set on a high place will not stand against the wind:

So a fearful heart in the imagination of a fool will not stand against any fear.

¹⁹He that pricketh the eye will make tears to fall;

And he that pricketh the heart maketh it to shew feeling.

²⁰Whoso casteth a stone at birds frayeth them away;[#Deut. 28.26. Jer. 7.33. Cp. Zech. 1.21.]

And he that upbraideth a friend will dissolve friendship.

²¹If thou hast drawn a sword against a friend, despair not;

For there may be a returning.

²²If thou hast opened thy mouth against a friend, fear not;[#ch. 27.21.]

For there may be a reconciling;

Except it be for upbraiding, and arrogance, and disclosing of a secret, and a treacherous blow:

For these things every friend will flee.

²³GAIN trust with thy neighbour in his poverty,

That in his prosperity thou mayest have gladness:

Abide stedfast unto him in the time of his affliction,

That thou mayest be heir with him in his inheritance.

²⁴Before fire is the vapour and smoke of a furnace;[#Cp. Prov. 26.21.]

So revilings before bloodshed.

²⁵I will not be ashamed to shelter a friend;

And I will not hide myself from his face:

²⁶And if any evil happen unto me because of him,

Every one that heareth it will beware of him.

²⁷WHO shall set a watch over my mouth,[#Ps. 141.3., Cp. ch. 28.25 & Ps. 39.1.]

And a seal of shrewdness upon my lips,

That I fall not from it, and that my tongue destroy me not?