Ben Sira 27:16

16 If you repeat secrets that have been told to you, you are destroying the confidence others have in you, and you will never have a close friend. 1

Ben Sira 27:16 In-Context

14 When such people curse, it is enough to make your hair stand on end, and when they start arguing among themselves, all you can do is to stop up your ears.
15 It is painful to listen to them insult each other, and such blustering can lead to violence.
16 If you repeat secrets that have been told to you, you are destroying the confidence others have in you, and you will never have a close friend.
17 Respect your friends, and keep faith with them. If you do betray a friend's confidence, you may as well forget you have a friend.
18 You have killed that friendship just as surely as if you had taken a weapon and killed an enemy.

Cross References 1

  • 1. 27.16-21Proverbs 20.19; 25.9.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.