Ben Sira 27:1-11

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.
10 A lion lies in wait for prey; so does sin for the workers of iniquity.
11 The talk of the godly man is always wise, but the fool changes like the moon.
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.