Context No. 3483 of 4322 · Sirach

Sirach 27:17-30: in context

17Love a friend, and keep faith with him; but if you reveal his secrets, you shall not follow him; 18for as a man has destroyed his enemy, so you have destroyed the friendship of your neighbor. 19As a bird which you have released out of your hand, so you have let your neighbor go, and you will not catch him again. 20Don’t pursue him, for he has gone far away, and has escaped like a gazelle out of the snare. 21For a wound may be bound up, and after abuse there may be reconciliation; but he who reveals secrets is without hope. 22One who winks the eye contrives evil things; and those who know him will keep their distance. 23When you are present, he will speak sweetly, and will admire your words; but afterward he will twist his speech and set a trap in your words. 24I have hated many things, but nothing like him. The Lord will hate him. 25One who casts a stone straight up casts it on his own head. A deceitful blow opens wounds. 26He who digs a pit will fall into it. He who sets a snare will be caught in it. 27He who does evil things, they will roll back upon him, and he will not know where they came from. 28Mockery and reproach are from the arrogant. Vengeance lies in wait for them like a lion. 29Those who rejoice at the fall of the godly will be caught in a snare. Anguish will consume them before they die. 30Wrath and anger, these also are abominations. A sinner will possess them.

Sirach teaches that betraying a friend's confidence destroys the friendship beyond repair. A wound can be bound up, and after a quarrel there can be reconciliation, but the one who reveals secrets has lost his friend for good, like a bird released from the hand that will never be caught again.

Trust, once broken by betrayal, is terribly hard to restore. And Sirach adds a warning about the deceitful, the flatterer who speaks sweetly to your face and twists your words behind your back; such treachery recoils on the one who practices it. Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and whoever rolls a stone will have it roll back on him. Betrayal and deceit are not only wrong; they return in the end upon the one who does them. Faithfulness in friendship, keeping trust and guarding a friend's confidence, is a precious and fragile thing, and its opposite destroys both the friendship and, in time, the betrayer himself.

Do I keep faith with my friends, guarding their confidence and refusing betrayal and deceit, knowing that broken trust is terribly hard to restore?

Sources

Sirach 27:21: "For a wound may be bound up, and after abuse there may be reconciliation; but he who reveals secrets is without hope."
Sirach 27:26: "He who digs a pit will fall into it. He who sets a snare will be caught in it."
Proverbs 17:9: "He who covers an offense promotes love; but he who repeats a matter separates best friends."