Sirach 12:1-18: a reflection

1If you do good, know to whom you do it, and your good deeds will have thanks. 2Do good to a godly man, and you will find a reward— if not from him, then from the Most High. 3No good will come to him who continues to do evil, nor to him who gives no alms. 4Give to the godly man, and don’t help the sinner. 5Do good to one who is lowly. Don’t give to an ungodly man. Keep back his bread, and don’t give it to him, lest he subdue you with it; for you would receive twice as much evil for all the good you would have done to him. 6For the Most High also hates sinners, and will repay vengeance to the ungodly. 7Give to the good man, and don’t help the sinner. 8A man’s friend won’t be fully tried in prosperity. His enemy won’t be hidden in adversity. 9In a man’s prosperity, his enemies are grieved. In his adversity, even his friend leaves. 10Never trust your enemy, for his wickedness is like corrosion in copper. 11Though he humbles himself and walks bowed down, still be careful and beware of him. You will be to him as one who has wiped a mirror, to be sure it doesn’t completely tarnish. 12Don’t set him next to you, lest he overthrow you and stand in your place. Don’t let him sit on your right hand, lest he seek to take your seat, and at the last you acknowledge my words, and be pricked with my sayings. 13Who will pity a charmer that is bitten by a snake, or any who come near wild beasts? 14Even so, who will pity him who goes to a sinner, and is associated with him in his sins? 15For a while he will stay with you, and if you falter, he will not stay. 16The enemy will speak sweetly with his lips, and in his heart plan to throw you into a pit. The enemy may weep with his eyes, but if he finds opportunity, he will want more blood. 17If adversity meets you, you will find him there before you. Pretending to help you, he will trip you. 18He will shake his head, clap his hands, whisper much, and change his countenance.

Much of this passage is a hard-eyed warning about people whose warmth is not to be trusted. The enemy speaks sweetly with his lips, Sirach says, but in his heart he plans to throw you into a pit. He may even weep, or humble himself and walk bowed down, and still, the sage cautions, beware of him. It is a sober lesson in not being naive about honeyed words.

Notice that this is not cynicism but discernment. Sirach is not saying trust no one; he is saying do not let flattery and a sweet manner switch off your judgment. Some people's kindness is genuine, and some is a cover, a way to get close enough to do harm. The warmth on the surface is not always the truth underneath, and a wise person learns to tell the difference rather than being disarmed by charm.

There is a place for this alongside the call to love. Loving people does not mean being gullible about them, or handing your trust to everyone who speaks pleasantly. You can be kind without being naive, warm without being defenseless. Ask God for the discernment this passage prizes, to see past flattery, to notice when sweet words mask ill intent, and to place your trust wisely. Love widely, but do not switch off the judgment God gave you.

Lord, give me discernment about people, to love widely without being naive, and to see past flattery to what is really there. Where sweet words mask ill intent, keep me from being disarmed, and help me place my trust wisely.