Single lesson
Sirach 27: Thought and speech disclose character
Sirach 27:4–15; Sirach 27:16–21; Sirach 27:22–29
Sirach 27:4–15 uses everyday pictures to teach that a person’s inner life shows up in speech and conduct. The passage urges careful listening, steady righteousness and wise choices about whose company to keep. This lesson also brings together Revealing secrets breaks a friendship’s trust, Deceit and malicious delight rebound on their makers.
Before you teach
This passage from Sirach, a book in the Catholic additional books, speaks in wisdom sayings and comparisons. It moves from images of testing, such as a sieve, a furnace and fruit, to practical warnings about fools, swearing, strife and pride, all within Sirach 27:4–15.
Explain the central teaching of Sirach 27: Thought and speech disclose character, using two details from the reading. This passage teaches that thoughts, words and patterns of conduct reveal character, so wisdom listens carefully and stays close to righteousness and truth. According to this passage, revealing a friend’s secrets destroys trust and can end a friendship in a way that is very hard to restore. This passage teaches that deceitful and arrogant harm rebounds on the wrongdoer, so God’s people should recognise it and not join in it.
Welcome: Sirach 27: Thought and speech disclose character
5 minIntroduce “Thought and speech disclose character”, “Revealing secrets breaks a friendship’s trust”, “Deceit and malicious delight rebound on their makers” and locate Sirach 27:4–15; Sirach 27:16–21; Sirach 27:22–29. This passage teaches that thoughts, words and patterns of conduct reveal character, so wisdom listens carefully and stays close to righteousness and truth. Invite each learner to name a detail or question they will listen for.
Sirach 27:4, Sirach 27:10, Sirach 27:15
Read and explain the passage
12 minThought and speech disclose character (Sirach 27:4–15): Sirach begins with pictures of a sieve and a furnace. When something is shaken or heated, what is really there becomes clear. In the same way, a person is tested in thoughts. These comparisons show hidden impurity or character being revealed by testing, using the images of refuse and tested vessels.
Revealing secrets breaks a friendship’s trust (Sirach 27:16–21): The passage begins with a direct warning: revealing secrets destroys trust. The result is relational, not merely personal embarrassment. The one who exposes what was private “will not find a close friend”, showing that trust is central to close friendship.
Deceit and malicious delight rebound on their makers (Sirach 27:22–29): The passage begins by exposing a person who “winks the eye” and plans evil. Outward signals and charming speech are not presented as innocent here, because this person later twists words and lays traps. The warning is practical: people who know such a person learn to keep their distance.
Read the selected verses together, pausing at “Thought and speech disclose character”, “Revealing secrets breaks a friendship’s trust”, “Deceit and malicious delight rebound on their makers”. Use the source reading below and check the explanation against the words of the passage.
Sirach 27:4, Sirach 27:5, Sirach 27:16, Sirach 27:22, Sirach 27:23
Discuss the details and their meaning
8 minUse the three questions below. Begin with “Why does Sirach use pictures like a sieve, a furnace and fruit?” and allow time to find the supporting verses. This passage teaches that deceitful and arrogant harm rebounds on the wrongdoer, so God’s people should recognise it and not join in it. Ask learners to explain which details support their answer and to identify a question they would like to explore further.
Sirach 27:4, Sirach 27:5, Sirach 27:6, Sirach 27:17, Sirach 27:28, Sirach 27:29
Make and respond: Wisdom comparison cards
12 minWork on “Sirach 27: Thought and speech disclose character: Wisdom comparison cards”. Follow the materials and steps below, using “Thought and speech disclose character”, “Revealing secrets breaks a friendship’s trust”, “Deceit and malicious delight rebound on their makers” 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 27:4, Sirach 27:17, Sirach 27:29
Closing: return to Deceit and malicious delight rebound on their makers
3 minRevisit Sirach 27:22–29. Invite a learner to summarise what the group has learned about Deceit and malicious delight rebound on their makers 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 27:22, Sirach 27:26, Sirach 27:29
Questions to explore
Why does Sirach use pictures like a sieve, a furnace and fruit?
These comparisons show that testing and speech bring hidden character into view rather than creating it.
Sirach 27:4, Sirach 27:5, Sirach 27:6
How does the command to “love a friend” shape the meaning of friendship here?
The text explains love in terms of keeping faith, so consider what loyalty looks like in these verses.
Sirach 27:17
What kinds of attitudes and behaviour are especially condemned at the end of the passage?
Notice the links between arrogance, mockery, reproach and rejoicing when the godly fall.
Sirach 27:28, Sirach 27:29
Make, think or respond
Sirach 27: Thought and speech disclose character: 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 27:4–15; Sirach 27:16–21; Sirach 27:22–29. Use “Thought and speech disclose character”, “Revealing secrets breaks a friendship’s trust”, “Deceit and malicious delight rebound on their makers” 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 27: Thought and speech disclose character 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 “Thought and speech disclose character”, “Revealing secrets breaks a friendship’s trust”, “Deceit and malicious delight rebound on their makers” and let them match short quotations to the correct heading.
- For confident readers, compare two sections of Sirach 27:4–15; Sirach 27:16–21; Sirach 27:22–29. 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 27:4–15; Sirach 27:16–21; Sirach 27:22–29. 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 27
4 In the shaking of a sieve, the refuse remains, so does the filth of man in his thoughts.
5 The furnace tests the potter’s vessels; so the test of a person is in his thoughts.
6 The fruit of a tree discloses its cultivation, so is the utterance of the thought of a person’s heart.
7 Praise no man before you hear his thoughts, for this is how people are tested.
8 If you follow righteousness, you will obtain it, and put it on like a long robe of glory.
9 Birds will return to their own kind, so truth will return to those who practice it.
10 The lion lies in wait for prey. So does sin for those who do evil.
11 The discourse of a godly man is always wise, but the fool changes like the moon.
12 Limit your time among people void of understanding, but persevere among the thoughtful.
13 The talk of fools is offensive. Their laughter is wantonly sinful.
14 Their talk with much swearing makes hair stand upright. Their strife makes others plug their ears.
15 The strife of the proud leads to bloodshed. Their abuse of each other is a grievous thing to hear.
16 He who reveals secrets destroys trust, and will not find a close friend.
17 Love a friend, and keep faith with him; but if you reveal his secrets, you shall not follow him;
18 for as a man has destroyed his enemy, so you have destroyed the friendship of your neighbor.
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.
20 Don’t pursue him, for he has gone far away, and has escaped like a gazelle out of the snare.
21 For a wound may be bound up, and after abuse there may be reconciliation; but he who reveals secrets is without hope.
22 One who winks the eye contrives evil things; and those who know him will keep their distance.
23 When 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.
24 I have hated many things, but nothing like him. The Lord will hate him.
25 One who casts a stone straight up casts it on his own head. A deceitful blow opens wounds.
26 He who digs a pit will fall into it. He who sets a snare will be caught in it.
27 He who does evil things, they will roll back upon him, and he will not know where they came from.
28 Mockery and reproach are from the arrogant. Vengeance lies in wait for them like a lion.
29 Those who rejoice at the fall of the godly will be caught in a snare. Anguish will consume them before they die.
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.