Ben Sira 27:1-9

1 Many have committed sin for a trifle, and whoever seeks to get rich will avert his eyes.

2 As a stake is driven firmly into a fissure between stones, so sin is wedged in between selling and buying.

3 If a man is not steadfast and zealous in the fear of the Lord, his house will be quickly overthrown.

4 When a sieve is shaken, the refuse remains; so a man's filth remains in his thoughts.

5 The kiln tests the potter's vessels; so the test of a man is in his reasoning.

6 The fruit discloses the cultivation of a tree; so the expression of a thought discloses the cultivation of a man's mind.

7 Do not praise a man before you hear him reason, for this is the test of men.

8 If you pursue justice, you will attain it and wear it as a glorious robe.

9 Birds flock with their kind; so truth returns to those who practice it.