Ecclesiasticus 28

The person who takes revenge will find that the Lord takes vengeance on him, and the Lord will certainly keep his sins in mind.

1He that revengeth shall find vengeance from the Lord, and he will surely keep his sins in remembrance.

Note"Keep his sins in remembrance" translates a Greek phrase meaning to fix or make firm: the picture is of a ledger entry that is not erased. The verse turns on a single Greek root used twice, so the payback matches the offense word for word.

2Forgive your neighbor the harm he has done to you, and then your own sins will be forgiven when you pray.

2Forgive thy neighbour the hurt that he hath done unto thee, so shall thy sins also be forgiven when thou prayest.

NoteThe wording of this verse, forgiveness given matched by forgiveness received when you pray, is very close to the petition in the Lord's Prayer about forgiving debts. Ben Sira wrote roughly two centuries earlier, and the pairing was a familiar one in Jewish teaching.

3One person holds on to hatred against another, and does he then look to the Lord for pardon?

3One man beareth hatred against another, and doth he seek pardon from the Lord?

NoteWhere the King James has "pardon," the Greek word is healing. Sickness and sin were often spoken of with the same vocabulary, so asking God for healing could mean asking to be put right after wrongdoing.

4He shows no mercy to a man who is just like himself, and does he then ask forgiveness for his own sins?

4He sheweth no mercy to a man, which is like himself: and doth he ask forgiveness of his own sins?

5If he, who is only flesh and blood, keeps his hatred alive, who will plead for his sins to be pardoned?

5If he that is but flesh nourish hatred, who will intreat for pardon of his sins?

Note"Flesh" here is not a contrast between body and soul. It is the standard biblical way of saying a mortal, breakable creature, as opposed to God.

6Remember your end, and let hostility stop. Remember decay and death, and keep on living by the commandments.

6Remember thy end, and let enmity cease; remember corruption and death, and abide in the commandments.

Note"Thy end" means the end of your life. "Corruption" is the physical decay of a body in the grave; the King James uses the word in its older, literal sense, not to mean moral corruption.

7Remember the commandments, and hold no spite against your neighbor. Remember the covenant of the Most High, and overlook ignorance.

7Remember the commandments, and bear no malice to thy neighbour: remember the covenant of the Highest, and wink at ignorance.

NoteA covenant is a formal binding agreement, sworn and permanent, of the kind made between a king and his people; "the covenant of the Highest" is the agreement between God and Israel, with the commandments as its terms. To "wink at" something in 1611 English meant to shut your eyes to it deliberately, to let it pass without comment. It carried none of the flirtatious sense the phrase has now.

8Stay away from fighting, and you will have fewer sins, because a man in a rage sets a quarrel burning.

8Abstain from strife, and thou shalt diminish thy sins: for a furious man will kindle strife,

9A sinful man stirs up trouble among friends and starts arguments among people who were at peace.

9A sinful man disquieteth friends, and maketh debate among them that be at peace.

Note"Debate" in 1611 English meant a quarrel or a fight, not a discussion. The word has softened considerably since.

10However much fuel a fire has, that is how it burns; and however strong a man is, that is how strong his anger is. The more riches he has, the higher his anger rises, and the stronger the people quarreling are, the more heated they get.

10As the matter of the fire is, so it burneth: and as a man’s strength is, so is his wrath; and according to his riches his anger riseth; and the stronger they are which contend, the more they will be inflamed.

Note"The matter of the fire" means its fuel. The saying works by proportion: a fire burns as big as its woodpile, and a man's rage runs as far as his strength and money let it. A wealthy man could press a feud through lawsuits, hired men and bought influence, where a poor man simply had to let it go.

11A quarrel begun in a hurry lights a fire, and fighting begun in a hurry spills blood.

11An hasty contention kindleth a fire: and an hasty fighting sheddeth blood.

12If you blow on a spark, it will burn; if you spit on it, it will go out. Both of these come out of your mouth.

12If thou blow the spark, it shall burn: if thou spit upon it, it shall be quenched: and both these come out of thy mouth.

13Curse the whisperer and the double-tongued person, because people like that have destroyed many who were living at peace.

13Curse the whisperer and doubletongued: for such have destroyed many that were at peace.

Note"Whisperer" is the standard term for someone who carries private talk from person to person. "Doubletongued" means saying one thing to a man's face and another behind his back, not stammering or speaking two languages. "Curse" here is a formal act, calling down harm on someone by name, not merely swearing at them.

14A slandering tongue has shaken many people and driven them from one nation to another. It has pulled down strong cities and overturned the houses of great men.

14A backbiting tongue hath disquieted many, and driven them from nation to nation: strong cities hath it pulled down, and overthrown the houses of great men.

Note"Driven them from nation to nation" describes exile: a slander at court could cost a family its standing and force it to resettle abroad. "The houses of great men" means their households and family lines, not their buildings.

15A slandering tongue has cast out brave women and stripped them of what they had worked for.

15A backbiting tongue hath cast out virtuous women, and deprived them of their labours.

Note"Virtuous" here translates a Greek word meaning brave or capable, the same sense as the "virtuous woman" of Proverbs 31 who runs an estate and trades in land. It is not primarily about chastity. "Cast out" points to divorce: a woman divorced on the strength of a rumor lost the household she had built and the property that went with it, which is what "deprived them of their labours" means.

16Whoever listens to it will never find rest and will never live quietly.

16Whoso hearkeneth unto it shall never find rest, and never dwell quietly.

17A blow from a whip leaves marks on the skin, but a blow from the tongue breaks bones.

17The stroke of the whip maketh marks in the flesh: but the stroke of the tongue breaketh the bones.

18Many people have fallen by the edge of the sword, but not as many as have fallen by the tongue.

18Many have fallen by the edge of the sword: but not so many as have fallen by the tongue.

19Happy is the one who is sheltered from its poison, who has not pulled its yoke and has not been tied with its ropes.

19Well is he that is defended through the venom thereof; who hath not drawn the yoke thereof, nor hath been bound in her bands.

NoteA yoke is the heavy wooden beam fastened across the necks of oxen to harness them to a plow. In everyday speech it stood for forced servitude, being owned and driven by another. The King James "defended through the venom thereof" is awkward; the Greek says sheltered from it, kept out of its reach altogether.

20For its yoke is a yoke of iron, and its ropes are bands of bronze.

20For the yoke thereof is a yoke of iron, and the bands thereof are bands of brass.

Note"Brass" in the King James almost always means bronze, the copper and tin alloy used for weapons, chains and fittings. Brass as we know it, copper mixed with zinc, was barely in use in the ancient world. Iron and bronze are named as the two hardest metals available, so the image is of bonds that cannot be broken.

21The death it brings is an evil death; the grave would be better than it.

21The death thereof is an evil death, the grave were better than it.

NoteThe Greek word behind "the grave" is Hades, the underworld where all the dead were thought to go, good and bad alike. It is not a place of punishment here, simply the common destination of the dead, which is what makes the comparison sharp: ordinary death would be preferable.

22It will not rule over those who fear God, and they will not be burned in its flame.

22It shall not have rule over them that fear God, neither shall they be burned with the flame thereof.

NoteTo "fear God" in biblical usage means to hold God in awe and to order your life accordingly. It describes reverence and loyalty rather than fright.

23Those who abandon the Lord will fall into it. It will burn in them and will not be put out. It will be sent against them like a lion, and it will devour them like a leopard.

23Such as forsake the Lord shall fall into it; and it shall burn in them, and not be quenched; it shall be sent upon them as a lion, and devour them as a leopard.

24See that you fence your property around with thorns, and tie up your silver and gold,

24Look that thou hedge thy possession about with thorns, and bind up thy silver and gold,

NoteFarmers fenced fields and vineyards by planting or piling thornbush around them, a cheap barrier against animals and thieves. Coined money was still uncommon in this period, so silver and gold were kept as weighed lumps and pieces, knotted into a cloth or tied in a purse for safekeeping.

25and weigh your words on a scale, and make a door with a bar across it for your mouth.

25And weigh thy words in a balance, and make a door and bar for thy mouth.

NoteA balance is a pair of pans hung from a beam, the instrument used to weigh out silver in a transaction. The advice puts your words in the same category as money: measured before they leave your hands. The "door and bar" is a house door with a heavy wooden beam dropped into brackets across it, the ordinary way of securing a home at night.

26Be careful that you do not slip because of it, and fall in front of someone who is lying in wait for you.

26Beware thou slide not by it, lest thou fall before him that lieth in wait.

Note"Slide" means slip, as a foot slips. "Him that lieth in wait" is an ambusher, someone lying hidden to catch you; here it means a person waiting for you to say something careless that he can use against you.