Sirach 20:18-20

Good News Translation

Inappropriate Talk

¹⁸ A slip of the tongue is worse than a slip on the pavement; the wicked will go to ruin just as suddenly as a person slips and falls.

¹⁹ An impolite person is like one of those off-color stories that ignorant people are always telling.

²⁰ Nobody takes a proverb seriously when some fool quotes it at the wrong time.