Against Loose Talk

One who trusts others too quickly has a shallow mind,

    and one who sins does wrong to himself.

One who rejoices in wickedness will be condemned,

    but one who hates gossip has less evil.

Never repeat a conversation,

    and you will lose nothing at all.

With friend or foe do not report it,

    and unless it would be a sin for you, do not reveal it;

for someone may have heard you and watched you,

    and in time will hate you.

Have you heard something? Let it die with you.

    Be brave, it will not make you burst!

Having heard something, the fool suffers birth pangs

    like a woman in labor with a child.

Like an arrow stuck in a person’s thigh,

    so is gossip inside a fool.

Question a friend; perhaps he did not do it;

    or if he did, so that he may not do it again.

Question a neighbor; perhaps he did not say it;

    or if he said it, so that he may not repeat it.

Question a friend, for often it is slander;

    so do not believe everything you hear.

A person may make a slip without intending it.

    Who has not sinned with his tongue?

Question your neighbor before you threaten him;

    and let the law of the Most High take its course.

~Sirach 19:4-17