Lesson sequence
Sirach 22: Sloth and undisciplined children bring shame
Sirach 22:1–6; Sirach 22:7–15; Sirach 22:16–18; Sirach 22:19–26
Sirach 22:1–6 uses sharp comparisons to warn about laziness, lack of discipline, shameful behaviour and badly timed speech. These sayings are brief, but they press the reader to notice how conduct affects reputation, family life and wise correction. This lesson also brings together The unteachable fool is a lasting burden, Well-considered counsel steadies the heart, Preserve friendship through conflict and adversity.
Before you teach
This passage comes from Sirach, a book in the Catholic additional books. In these verses, the speaker gives a series of wisdom sayings. The sayings compare sloth, undisciplined children, shameful behaviour and ill-timed conversation with vivid images so the reader can weigh what is disgraceful and what is wise.
Explain the central teaching of Sirach 22: Sloth and undisciplined children bring shame, using two details from the reading. This passage teaches that laziness, undisciplined behaviour, arrogance and poorly timed words bring shame, while correction belongs with wisdom. Sirach 22:7–15 warns that foolishness resists teaching, prolongs grief, and becomes hard to bear. This passage teaches that a heart established on wise counsel and thoughtful understanding stands steadier than a fearful heart shaped by foolish imagination. This passage teaches that friendship needs careful speech, trustworthy conduct, and steadfastness in times of trouble.
Your lesson sequence
Use the teaching outline below for each session, with these reading and activity choices.
Sloth and undisciplined children bring shame
Sirach 22:1–6
This passage teaches that laziness, undisciplined behaviour, arrogance and poorly timed words bring shame, while correction belongs with wisdom.
Try together: Use the evidence sheet for Sirach 22:1–6. Record key details, compare the opening and closing of this reading, and prepare a short explanation with a supporting Bible reference for each point.
The unteachable fool is a lasting burden
Sirach 22:7–15
Sirach 22:7–15 warns that foolishness resists teaching, prolongs grief, and becomes hard to bear.
Try together: Use the evidence sheet for Sirach 22:7–15. Record key details, compare the opening and closing of this reading, and prepare a short explanation with a supporting Bible reference for each point.
Well-considered counsel steadies the heart
Sirach 22:16–18
This passage teaches that a heart established on wise counsel and thoughtful understanding stands steadier than a fearful heart shaped by foolish imagination.
Try together: Use the evidence sheet for Sirach 22:16–18. Record key details, compare the opening and closing of this reading, and prepare a short explanation with a supporting Bible reference for each point.
Preserve friendship through conflict and adversity
Sirach 22:19–26
This passage teaches that friendship needs careful speech, trustworthy conduct, and steadfastness in times of trouble.
Try together: Use the evidence sheet for Sirach 22:19–26. Record key details, compare the opening and closing of this reading, and prepare a short explanation with a supporting Bible reference for each point.
Welcome: Sirach 22: Sloth and undisciplined children bring shame
5 minIntroduce “Sloth and undisciplined children bring shame”, “The unteachable fool is a lasting burden”, “Well-considered counsel steadies the heart”, “Preserve friendship through conflict and adversity” and locate Sirach 22:1–6; Sirach 22:7–15; Sirach 22:16–18; Sirach 22:19–26. This passage teaches that laziness, undisciplined behaviour, arrogance and poorly timed words bring shame, while correction belongs with wisdom. Invite each learner to name a detail or question they will listen for. Choose the reading for today’s session from the sequence above.
Sirach 22:1, Sirach 22:4, Sirach 22:6
Read and explain the passage
12 minSloth and undisciplined children bring shame (Sirach 22:1–6): The first two sayings compare a slothful person to things people do not want to keep close: a defiled stone and the filth of a dunghill. The point is not about the objects themselves, but about disgrace. Others respond with hissing, disgust and rejection, showing that laziness is treated as shameful.
The unteachable fool is a lasting burden (Sirach 22:7–15): The first images describe effort that does not achieve its aim. Teaching a fool is compared to gluing broken potsherds and to waking a sleeper from deep sleep. Verse 8 adds a sleepy reply, “What is it?”, showing that the teaching has not been properly received.
Well-considered counsel steadies the heart (Sirach 22:16–18): Sirach first points to timber girded and bound into a building. It is not released with shaking because it has been secured. The comparison then turns to a person: a heart established in due season on well-advised counsel will not be afraid. The verse joins steadiness with counsel that is well advised.
Preserve friendship through conflict and adversity (Sirach 22:19–26): The first sayings compare harm done to the eye and harm done to the heart. Pricking an eye brings tears, and pricking the heart brings feelings out into the open. The point is that hurtful treatment has visible effects, even when the wound is inward rather than physical. [Sirach 22:19]
Read the selected verses together, pausing at “Sloth and undisciplined children bring shame”, “The unteachable fool is a lasting burden”, “Well-considered counsel steadies the heart”, “Preserve friendship through conflict and adversity”. Use the source reading below and check the explanation against the words of the passage.
Sirach 22:1, Sirach 22:2, Sirach 22:7, Sirach 22:8, Sirach 22:16, Sirach 22:19
Discuss the details and their meaning
8 minUse the three questions below. Begin with “What do the first two comparisons teach about how Sirach views sloth?” and allow time to find the supporting verses. This passage teaches that friendship needs careful speech, trustworthy conduct, and steadfastness in times of trouble. Ask learners to explain which details support their answer and to identify a question they would like to explore further.
Sirach 22:1, Sirach 22:2, Sirach 22:18, Sirach 22:19, Sirach 22:20
Make and respond: Wisdom comparison cards
12 minWork on “Sirach 22: Sloth and undisciplined children bring shame: Wisdom comparison cards”. Follow the materials and steps below, using “Sloth and undisciplined children bring shame”, “The unteachable fool is a lasting burden”, “Well-considered counsel steadies the heart”, “Preserve friendship through conflict and adversity” as reading headings. Each learner should include at least two accurate details and their verse references. Share one observation from the finished sheet and explain how it connects with the central teaching.
Sirach 22:1, Sirach 22:15, Sirach 22:26
Closing: return to Preserve friendship through conflict and adversity
3 minRevisit Sirach 22:19–26. Invite a learner to summarise what the group has learned about Preserve friendship through conflict and adversity and another to support the summary with a verse. Give learners a moment to complete their response sheet. They can share a question or, if appropriate for the group, join the optional prayer.
Sirach 22:19, Sirach 22:23, Sirach 22:26
Questions to explore
What do the first two comparisons teach about how Sirach views sloth?
Look closely at the reactions in the verses: people hiss in disgrace and shake the filth from their hand, which shows strong rejection of laziness.
Sirach 22:1, Sirach 22:2
Why does the heart in verse 18 fail to stand?
Notice both parts of the description: it is fearful, and it is in the imagination of a fool.
Sirach 22:18
Which comparisons in this passage show the effect of hurting a friend?
Look at the images of the eye, the heart, and frightened birds to see how Sirach describes emotional injury and broken friendship. [Sirach 22:19, Sirach 22:20]
Sirach 22:19, Sirach 22:20
Make, think or respond
Sirach 22: Sloth and undisciplined children bring shame: Wisdom comparison cards
What you’ll need
- plain paper or card
- pencils or pens
- a Bible or the source reading on this page
Try it together
- Fold a sheet into three panels or draw three columns. Label them “What the passage commends”, “What it warns against”, “The reason or outcome stated”.
- Read Sirach 22:1–6; Sirach 22:7–15; Sirach 22:16–18; Sirach 22:19–26. Use “Sloth and undisciplined children bring shame”, “The unteachable fool is a lasting burden”, “Well-considered counsel steadies the heart”, “Preserve friendship through conflict and adversity” as your reading headings and add a short quotation or detail with its verse reference to each panel.
- Compare your notes with a partner. Check that every quotation is accurate and every conclusion has support in the passage.
- Write a proposed everyday example beside one teaching. Label it as your example and explain which words in the text guided it.
The finished sheet keeps the details of Sirach 22: Sloth and undisciplined children bring shame connected to their Bible references and gives the group a way to explain what they noticed.
Adapt for your group
- For learners who need more support, prepare the reading headings “Sloth and undisciplined children bring shame”, “The unteachable fool is a lasting burden”, “Well-considered counsel steadies the heart”, “Preserve friendship through conflict and adversity” and let them match short quotations to the correct heading.
- For confident readers, compare two sections of Sirach 22:1–6; Sirach 22:7–15; Sirach 22:16–18; Sirach 22:19–26. Ask for a written explanation with two supporting references and one question that the text leaves open.
An optional closing prayer
“God, help us listen carefully as we read Sirach 22:1–6; Sirach 22:7–15; Sirach 22:16–18; Sirach 22:19–26. Help us understand what we have read, ask thoughtful questions and respond with care for others. Amen.”
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
Sirach 22
1 A slothful man is compared to a stone that is defiled. Everyone will hiss at him in his disgrace.
2 A slothful man is compared to the filth of a dunghill. Anyone who picks it up will shake it out of his hand.
3 An undisciplined child is a disgrace to his father, and a foolish daughter is born to his loss.
4 A prudent daughter will inherit a husband of her own. She who brings shame is the grief of her father.
5 She who is arrogant brings shame on father and husband. She will be despised by both of them.
6 Ill-timed conversation is like music in mourning, but stripes and correction are wisdom in every season.
7 He who teaches a fool is like one who glues potsherds together, even like one who wakes a sleeper out of a deep sleep.
8 He who teaches a fool is as one who teaches a man who slumbers. In the end he will say, “What is it?”
11 Weep for the dead, for he lacks light. Weep for a fool, for he lacks understanding. Weep more sweetly for the dead, because he has found rest, but the life of the fool is worse than death.
12 Mourning for the dead lasts seven days, but for a fool and an ungodly man, it lasts all the days of his life.
13 Don’t talk much with a foolish man, and don’t go to one who has no understanding. Beware of him, lest you have trouble and be defiled in his onslaught. Turn away from him, and you will find rest, and you won’t be wearied in his madness.
14 What would be heavier than lead? What is its name, but “Fool”?
15 Sand, salt, and a mass of iron is easier to bear than a man without understanding.
16 Timber girded and bound into a building will not be released with shaking. So a heart established in due season on well advised counsel will not be afraid.
17 A heart settled upon a thoughtful understanding is as an ornament of plaster on a polished wall.
18 Fences set on a high place will not stand against the wind; so a fearful heart in the imagination of a fool will not stand against any fear.
19 He who pricks the eye will make tears fall. He who pricks the heart makes it show feeling.
20 Whoever casts a stone at birds scares them away. He who insults a friend will dissolve friendship.
21 If you have drawn a sword against a friend, don’t despair, for there may be a way back.
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 treacherous blow— for these things any friend will flee.
23 Gain trust with your neighbor in his poverty, that in his prosperity you may have gladness. Stay steadfast to him in the time of his affliction, that you may be heir with him in his inheritance.
24 Before fire is the vapor and smoke of a furnace, so insults precede bloodshed.
25 I won’t be ashamed to shelter a friend. I won’t hide myself from his face.
26 If any evil happens to me because of him, everyone who hears it will beware of him.
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.
Source passages
Some verse numbers are represented by textual notes in World English Bible Classic. The reading below follows the text printed in the main passage.