Sirach — Chapter 22
Folly and the Preservation of Friendship
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Hebrew–Greek comparison and notes · III. Wisdom
22:1 A lazy person has been compared to a filthy stone, and everyone will hiss at his dishonor.
22:2 A lazy person has been compared to a lump of dung; everyone who picks it up will shake his hand.
22:3 A father’s shame is in begetting an uninstructed child, and a daughter brings about loss.
22:4 A prudent daughter will inherit her husband, but one who brings shame brings grief to her parent.
22:5 A shameless woman shames both father and husband and will be dishonored by both.
22:6 An untimely discourse is music in mourning, but lashes and discipline are wisdom at every time.
22:9 The one teaching a fool is gluing a potsherd together, waking a sleeper from deep sleep.
22:10 The one speaking to a fool is speaking to someone drowsy; at the end he will say, “What is it?”
22:11 Weep over a dead person, for he has lost the light; weep also over a fool, for he has lost understanding. Weep more gently over the dead, because he has found rest, but the fool’s life is worse than death.
22:12 Mourning for the dead lasts seven days; for a fool and an ungodly person, all the days of his life.
22:13 Do not multiply words with a fool or go to someone without understanding. Guard against him so that you do not have trouble or become stained by what he shakes off. Turn away from him, and you will find rest and will not grow weary of his madness.
22:14 What is heavier than lead? What is its name except a fool?
22:15 Sand, salt, and a lump of iron are easier to bear than a person without understanding.
22:16 A wooden bond fitted into a building will not be loosened in a shaking; so a heart established on thoughtful counsel will not be cowardly when the time comes.
22:17 A heart made firm upon an understanding thought is like a sanded ornament on a polished wall.
22:18 Stakes set on a height will certainly not endure before the wind; so a cowardly heart resting on a foolish thought will certainly not endure before any fear.
22:19 The one who pricks an eye will bring down tears; the one who pricks a heart reveals feeling.
22:20 Throwing a stone at birds drives them away, and the one who reproaches a friend will break up friendship.
22:21 If you draw a sword against a friend, do not despair, for there is a way back.
22:22 If you open your mouth against a friend, do not be afraid, for there is reconciliation—except for reproach, pride, disclosure of a secret, and a treacherous blow; at these things every friend will flee.
22:23 Establish trust with your neighbor in poverty, so that you may be filled together with him in his good circumstances. Stay with him in a time of affliction, so that you may share his inheritance.
22:24 Before fire come a furnace’s vapor and smoke; so before bloodshed come insults.
22:25 I will not be ashamed to shelter a friend, and I will certainly not hide from his face.
22:26 If evil things happen to me because of him, everyone who hears will guard against him.
22:27 Who will place a guard upon my mouth and a skillful seal upon my lips, so that I do not fall because of it and my tongue destroy me?
Source and editorial notes
Working translation preserved from the recovered manuscript of 8 September 2026. Declared source: Septuaginta, Rahlfs–Hanhart, 2006, Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, publisher’s Greek main text. Independent linguistic and critical-apparatus review remains outstanding. Source-access and reception claims in the inherited notes have not been freshly revalidated. Chapter and section headings are editorial.
The translator’s prologue is separate from the 51 chapters. Its eight source units map to publisher labels 1, 1a–1g; main-text 1:1 maps to 1h. Source 5:15 includes material often numbered 6:1, so chapter 6 begins at 6:2. Source label gaps are preserved; no text is invented.
22:1 The source does not specify what soiled the stone; no particular sanitary use is asserted.
22:2 The coarse comparison is preserved.
22:3 The ancient author’s harsh household saying is retained, including its gendered second clause, without turning it into the translator’s own evaluation.
22:4 Inherit her husband retains the unusual κληρονομήσει ἄνδρα αὐτῆς; no silent substitution of obtain or preserve is made.
22:6 The comparison and the ancient corporal-discipline language are retained. The next printed label is 9; labels 7–8 are absent.
22:13 The unusual shaking-off image is retained, recalling the filthy material earlier in the chapter; its precise referent is not specified.
22:16 The building and settled-heart analogy is preserved; the source does not expressly name an earthquake.
22:17 The architectural finish is difficult; the actual sand and smoothed-wall terms are retained without assuming a particular decorative technique.
22:22 All four exceptions qualify the hope of reconciliation and are retained.
22:26 The negative result from the friend’s conduct remains explicit; the pronouns are not changed to protect the friend’s reputation.
22:27 Because of it follows the feminine pronoun, whose connection to the speech organs is compressed. The prayer continues into chapter 23. Verified reception: Augustine, On Grace and Free Will 32, uses this petition for a guarded mouth to explain why the willing person still asks God for help in obeying. [AUG-GRACE]