Ben Sira 27:19

19 Your friend is gone. You can no more get him back than you can get a bird to come back to your hand once you let it go.

Ben Sira 27:19 In-Context

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.

19 Your friend is gone. You can no more get him back than you can get a bird to come back to your hand once you let it go.

20 Don't bother going after him. It's too late. He is gone, like a deer escaped from a trap.

21 Wounds can be bandaged and insults can be forgiven, but if you betray a confidence, it is hopeless.