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Speak, young man, only when necessary,(A)
    when they have asked you more than once.
Be brief, say much in few words;
    be knowledgeable and yet quiet.
When among elders do not be forward,
    and with officials do not be too insistent.
10 The lightning that flashes before a hailstorm:
    the esteem that shines on modesty.

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'Sirach 32:7-10' not found for the version: New International Version.

[a]In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words.[b]

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Footnotes

  1. 6:7–15 Matthew inserts into his basic traditional material an expansion of the material on prayer that includes the model prayer, the “Our Father.” That prayer is found in Lk 11:2–4 in a different context and in a different form.
  2. 6:7 The example of what Christian prayer should be like contrasts it now not with the prayer of the hypocrites but with that of the pagans. Their babbling probably means their reciting a long list of divine names, hoping that one of them will force a response from the deity.

And when you pray, do not keep on babbling(A) like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.(B)

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