Sirach 15–16

He that feareth the Lord will do good,

And he that hath the knowledge of the law shall obtain her.

²And ^aas a mother shall she meet him,

And receive him as a wife married of a virgin.

^3bWith the bread of understanding shall she feed him,

And ^bcgive him the water of wisdom to drink.

⁴He shall be stayed upon her, and shall not be moved;

And shall rely upon her, and shall not be confounded.

⁵She shall exalt him above his neighbours,

And in the midst of the congregation shall she open his mouth.

⁶He shall find ^djoy and a crown of gladness,

And she shall cause him to inherit an everlasting name.

⁷But foolish men shall not attain unto her,

And sinners shall not see her.

⁸For she is far from pride,

And men that are liars cannot remember her.

⁹Praise is not seemly in the mouth of a sinner,

For it was not sent him of the Lord.

¹⁰For ^epraise shall be uttered in wisdom,

And the Lord will prosper it.

^11fSay not thou, It is through the Lord that I fell away:

For thou oughtest not to do the things that he hateth.

^12fSay not thou, He hath caused me to err:

For he hath no need of the sinful man.

¹³The Lord hateth all abomination;

And they that fear God love it not.

^14gHe himself made man from the beginning,

And ^hleft him in the hand of his counsel;

¹⁵ⁱIf thou wilt, to keep the commandments,

And to perform acceptable faithfulness.

^16kHe hath set fire and water before thee:

Stretch forth thy hand unto whether thou wilt.

^17lBefore man is life and death;

And whether him liketh shall be given him.

¹⁸For ^mthe wisdom of the Lord is great,

And he is mighty in power, and beholdeth all things:

¹⁹And ⁿhis eyes are upon them that fear him,

And ^ohe knoweth every work of man.

^20pHe hath commanded no man to do wickedly,

Neither hath he given any man licence to sin.

XVI.Desire not a multitude of ^aunprofitable children,

Neither delight in ungodly sons.

²Though they multiply, rejoice not in them,

Except the fear of the Lord be with them.

³Trust not thou in their life,

Neither respect their multitude:

For one that is just is better than a thousand;

And better it is to die without children, than to have them that are ungodly.

⁴For by one that hath understanding shall the city be replenished:

But the kindred of the wicked shall speedily become desolate.

⁵Many such things have I seen with mine eyes,

And mine ear hath heard greater things than these.

^6bIn the congregation of the ungodly shall a fire be kindled;

And in a rebellious nation wrath is set on fire.

^7cHe was not pacified towards the old giants,

Who fell away in the strength of their foolishness.

^8dNeither spared he the place where Lot sojourned,

But abhorred them for their ^epride.

^9eHe pitied not the people of perdition,

Who were taken away in their sins.

^10fNor ^gthe six hundred thousand footmen,

Who were gathered together in the hardness of their hearts.

¹¹And if there be one stiffnecked among the people,

It is marvel if he escape unpunished:

^hFor mercy and wrath are with him;

He is mighty to forgive, and to pour out displeasure.

¹²As his mercy is great, so is his correction also:

ⁱHe judgeth a man according to his works.

^13kThe sinner shall not escape with his spoils:

And the patience of the godly shall not be frustrate.

¹⁴Make way for every work of mercy:

For ⁱevery man shall find according to his works.

^15lThe Lord hardened Pharaoh, that he should not know him,

That his powerful works might be known to the world.

¹⁶His mercy is manifest to every creature;

And ^mhe hath separated his light from the darkness with an ⁿadamant.

¹⁷Say not thou, ^oI will hide myself from the Lord:

Shall any remember me from above?

I shall not be remembered among so many people:

For what is my soul among such an infinite number of creatures?

¹⁸Behold, ^pthe heaven, and the heaven of heavens,

The deep, and the earth, and all that therein is,

^qShall be moved ^rwhen he shall visit.

^19sThe mountains also and ^tfoundations of the earth

Shall be shaken with trembling, when the Lord looketh upon them.

²⁰No heart can think upon these things worthily:

And ^uwho is able to conceive his ways?

²¹It is a tempest which no man can see:

For ^xthe most part of his works are hid.

²²Who can declare the works of his justice? or who can endure them?

For his covenant is afar off,

And the trial of all things is in the end.

^23yHe that wanteth understanding will think upon vain things:

And a foolish man erring imagineth follies.

^24zMy son, hearken unto me, and learn knowledge,

And mark my words with thy heart.

²⁵I will shew forth doctrine ^ain weight,

And declare his knowledge ^bexactly.

^26cThe works of the Lord are done in judgment from the beginning:

And from the time he made them he disposed the parts thereof.

^27dHe garnished his works for ever,

And in his hand are the chief of them unto all generations:

They neither labour, nor are weary, nor cease from their works.

²⁸None of them hindereth another,

And ^ethey shall never disobey his word.

^29fAfter this the Lord looked upon the earth,

And filled it with his blessings.

^30gWith all manner of living things hath he covered the face thereof;

And ^hthey shall return into it again.

XVII.