Ben Sira 27:1-6

1 Many have committed sin for gain, and those who seek to get rich will avert their 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 person is not steadfast in the fear of the Lord, his house will be quickly overthrown.

4 When a sieve is shaken, the refuse appears; so do a person's faults when he speaks.

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

6 Its fruit discloses the cultivation of a tree; so a person's speech discloses the cultivation of his mind.

Footnotes

• [a]. Other ancient authorities read [a trifle]