17 Love a friend, and keep faith with him; but if you reveal his secrets, you shall not follow him; (WEB) 18 for as a man has destroyed his enemy, so you have destroyed the friendship of your neighbor. (WEB) 19 As a bird which you have released out of your hand, so you have let your neighbor go, and you will not catch him again. (WEB)
Sirach 27:17–19
Semantically similar passages
Sirach 6:8–10
8 For there is a friend just for an occasion. He won’t continue in the day of your affliction. (WEB) 9 And there is a friend who turns into an enemy. He will discover strife to your reproach. (WEB) 10 And there is a friend who is a companion at the table, but he won’t continue in… (WEB)
Sirach 22:21–23
21 If you have drawn a sword against a friend, don’t despair, for there may be a way back. (WEB) 22 If you have opened your mouth against a friend, don’t be afraid, for there may be reconciliation, unless it is for insulting, arrogance, disclosing of a secret, or a treach… (WEB)
Sirach 6:1–2
1 Don’t become an enemy instead of a friend; for an evil name will inherit shame and reproach. So it is with the sinner who has a double tongue. (WEB) 2 Don’t exalt yourself in the counsel of your soul, that your soul not be torn in pieces like a bull. (WEB)
Proverbs 3:28–30
28 Do not tell your neighbor, “Come back tomorrow and I will provide”— when you already have the means. 29 Do not devise evil against your neighbor, for he trustfully dwells beside you. 30 Do not accuse a man without cause, when he has done you no harm.
Sirach 7:11–13
11 Don’t laugh a man to scorn when he is in the bitterness of his soul, for there is one who humbles and exalts. (WEB) 12 Don’t devise a lie against your brother, or do the same to a friend. (WEB) 13 Refuse to utter a lie, for that habit results in no good. (WEB)
Proverbs 25:8–10
8 do not bring hastily to court. Otherwise, what will you do in the end when your neighbor puts you to shame? 9 Argue your case with your neighbor without betraying another’s confidence, 10 lest the one who hears may disgrace you, and your infamy never go away.
2 Enoch 52:11–13
11 Blessed is he who implants peace and love. (2EN) 12 Cursed is he who disturbs those that love their neighbours. (2EN) 13 Blessed is he who speaks with humble tongue and heart to all. (2EN)
Job 17:4–6
4 You have closed their minds to understanding; therefore You will not exalt them. 5 If a man denounces his friends for a price, the eyes of his children will fail. 6 He has made me a byword among the people, a man in whose face they spit.
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