Read & explore together
Slander wounds communities and requires a guarded mouth
Sirach 28:13–26 warns that slander is not a minor fault. This wisdom passage describes how destructive words disturb peace, wound deeply, and call for careful restraint in speech.
Understanding the passage
Listening in context
In Sirach, this section uses short sayings and vivid comparisons to teach about whispering, slander, listening, and self-control. The passage stays in wisdom language, showing the effects of harmful speech and urging the reader to guard the mouth with care.
Sirach 28:13–26Main takeaway
Sirach 28:13–26 teaches that slander brings wide and painful harm, so a wise person must treat words with serious caution.
Look closely at the words
Open a card to explore the full explanation and its Bible references.
01Whispering destroys peaceThe passage opens by cursing the whisperer and the double-tongued person because such speech ruins peace.
Explanation
The passage opens by cursing the whisperer and the double-tongued person because such speech ruins peace. Sirach says slander has shaken many and scattered them widely. It is pictured as strong enough to pull down cities and overthrow great households, showing that harmful words can damage whole communities, not only one conversation.
02Its harm spreads through listeners and victimsSirach adds that a slanderer casts out brave women and deprives them of their labours. Then the warning turns to the hearer: the one who listens to slander will not find rest or quiet.
Explanation
Sirach adds that a slanderer casts out brave women and deprives them of their labours. Then the warning turns to the hearer: the one who listens to slander will not find rest or quiet. The passage therefore speaks about both speaking and receiving harmful talk, because both are caught in its unrest.
03The tongue wounds with crushing forceThe writer compares bodily injury with verbal injury. A whip leaves a mark in flesh, but a tongue can break bones.
Explanation
The writer compares bodily injury with verbal injury. A whip leaves a mark in flesh, but a tongue can break bones. Many have fallen by the sword, yet even more because of the tongue. Sirach then calls the person happy who is sheltered from this burden, describing it as iron and brass bands and a deadly yoke.
04Godly people are contrasted with those who forsake the LordSirach says this danger will not rule over godly people, and they will not be burned in its flame.
Explanation
Sirach says this danger will not rule over godly people, and they will not be burned in its flame. In contrast, those who forsake the Lord will fall into it. The passage uses fire and predator imagery, saying it burns without being quenched and destroys like a lion or leopard. Therefore words must be guarded, like protected wealth, with measured speech and a barred mouth.
Questions to explore
Pause, look back at the verses and talk together.
01How does Sirach show that slander affects more than one person at a time?
Look for words about people being at peace, many being shaken, and people being dispersed or cast out.
02What comparisons make the danger of the tongue feel severe in this passage?
Notice the images of whip, broken bones, sword, yoke, iron, brass, and death.
03What contrast does Sirach make between godly people and those who forsake the Lord?
Read the different outcomes in the verses about rule, flame, falling, burning, and destruction.
Read the Bible passage
World English Bible ClassicScripture quotation · Public domain
Sirach 28:13–26
13Curse the whisperer and double-tongued, for he has destroyed many who were at peace.
14A slanderer has shaken many, and dispersed them from nation to nation. It has pulled down strong cities and overthrown the houses of great men.
15A slanderer has cast out brave women and deprived them of their labors.
16He who listens to it will not find rest, nor will he live quietly.
17The stroke of a whip makes a mark in the flesh, but the stroke of a tongue will break bones.
18Many have fallen by the edge of the sword, yet not so many as those who have fallen because of the tongue.
19Happy is he who is sheltered from it, who has not passed through its wrath, who has not drawn its yoke, and has not been bound with its bands.
20For its yoke is a yoke of iron, and its bands are bands of brass.
21Its death is an evil death, and Hades is better than it.
22It will not have rule over godly men. They will not be burned in its flame.
23Those who forsake the Lord will fall into it. It will burn among them, and won’t be quenched. It will be sent against them like a lion. It will destroy them like a leopard.
24As you hedge your possession about with thorns, and secure your silver and your gold,
25so make a balance and a weight for your words, and make a door and a bar for your mouth.
26Take heed lest you slip with it, lest you fall before one who lies in wait.