The High Priest as Angel and the Tongue That Wounds Its Own Work

Another interpretation of "Do not let your mouth" (Ecclesiastes 5:5): If you acted willfully and led astray a High Priest, who is called an "angel," as it is said, "For the lips of a priest preserve knowledge, and they should seek Torah from his mouth, for he is the angel of the LORD of Hosts" (Malachi 2:7), and you say, "I sinned unintentionally" — do not say before the angel that it was an error. Why? You are leading yourself astray; you are smiting your own self. The voice that you bring forth from your mouth wounds the work of your hands. "Why should God be angry at your voice [and destroy the work of your hands]" (Ecclesiastes 5:5)? These are the children who are smitten with leprosy, as it is said, "This shall be the law of the leper" (Leviticus 14:2).