Ben Sira 19:5-15

5 One who rejoices in wickedness will be condemned,
6 and for one who hates gossip evil is lessened.
7 Never repeat a conversation, and you will lose nothing at all.
8 With friend or foe do not report it, and unless it would be a sin for you, do not disclose it;
9 for some one has heard you and watched you, and when the time comes he will hate you.
10 Have you heard a word? Let it die with you. Be brave! It will not make you burst!
11 With such a word a fool will suffer pangs like a woman in labor with a child.
12 Like an arrow stuck in the flesh of the thigh, so is a word inside a fool.
13 Question a friend, perhaps he did not do it; but if he did anything, so that he may do it no more.
14 Question a neighbor, perhaps he did not say it; but if he said it, so that he may not say it again.
15 Question a friend, for often it is slander; so do not believe everything you hear.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.