Sirach 41–42

O death, how bitter is the remembrance of thee to a man that liveth at rest in his possessions,

Unto the man ^athat hath nothing to vex him, and that hath prosperity in all things:

Yea unto him that is yet able to receive meat!

²O death, acceptable is thy sentence unto the needy,

And unto him whose strength faileth, ^aathat is now in the last age,

And is vexed with all things,

And to him that ^bdespaireth, and ^chath lost patience!

³Fear not the sentence of death,

Remember them that have been before thee, and that come after;

For this is the sentence of the Lord over all flesh.

⁴And why art thou against the pleasure of the most High?

There is no inquisition in the grave,

Whether thou have lived ten, or an hundred, or a thousand years.

⁵The children of sinners are abominable children,

And they that are conversant in the dwelling of the ungodly.

^6dThe inheritance of sinners’ children shall perish,

And their posterity shall have a perpetual reproach.

⁷The children will complain of an ungodly father,

^eBecause they shall be reproached for his sake.

⁸Woe be unto you, ungodly men,

Which have forsaken the law of the most high God!

For if you increase, it shall be to your destruction:

⁹And if you be born, you shall be born to a curse;

And if you die, a curse shall be your portion.

^10fAll that are of the earth shall turn to earth again:

So the ungodly shall go from a curse to destruction.

¹¹The mourning of men is about their bodies:

But ^gan ill name of sinners shall be blotted out.

¹²Have regard to thy name; for ^hthat shall continue with thee

Above a thousand great treasures of gold.

¹³A good life hath but ⁱfew days:

But a good name endureth for ever.

¹⁴My children, keep discipline in peace:

For ^kwisdom that is hid, and a treasure that is not seen,

What profit is in them both?

^15lA man that hideth his foolishness is better

^lThan a man that hideth his wisdom.

¹⁶Therefore be shamefast according to my word:

^mFor it is not good to retain all shamefastness;

ⁿNeither is it altogether approved in every thing.

¹⁷Be ashamed of whoredom ^obefore father and mother:

And of a lie ^obefore a prince and a mighty man;

¹⁸Of an offence ^obefore a judge and ruler;

Of iniquity ^obefore a congregation and people;

Of unjust dealing ^obefore thy partner and friend;

¹⁹And ^pof theft ^oin regard of the place where thou sojournest,

And ^oin regard of ^qthe truth of God and his covenant;

And ^oto lean with thine elbow upon the meat;

And ^oof scorning to give and take;

²⁰And of silence ^obefore them that salute thee;

And ^oto look upon a harlot;

²¹And ^oto turn away thy face from thy kinsman;

Or ^oto take away a portion or a gift;

Or ^oto ^rgaze upon ^sanother man’s wife;

²²Or to be overbusy with his maid,

And come not near her bed;

Or ^tof upbraiding speeches ^obefore friends;

And ^uafter thou hast given, upbraid not;

²³Or ^oof ^xiterating and speaking again that which thou hast heard;

And ^oof ^yrevealing of secrets.

²⁴So shalt thou be truly shamefast,

And ^zfind favour before all men.

XLII.^aOf these things be not thou ashamed,

And ^baccept no person to sin thereby:

^2cOf the law of the most High, and his covenant;

And of judgment to justify the ungodly;

³Of reckoning with thy partners and travellers;

Or of the gift of the heritage of friends;

^4dOf exactness of balance and weights;

Or ^eof getting much or little;

⁵And of merchants’ indifferent selling;

Of much ^fcorrection of children;

And ^gto make the side of an evil servant to bleed.

⁶Sure keeping is good, where an evil wife is;

And shut up, where many hands are.

^7hDeliver all things in number and weight;

And put all in writing that thou givest out, or receivest in.

⁸ⁱBe not ashamed to inform the unwise and foolish,

And ^kthe extreme aged that contendeth with those that are young:

Thus shalt thou be truly learned,

And approved of all men living.

^9lThe father waketh for the daughter, when no man knoweth;

And the care for her taketh away sleep:

When she is young, lest she ^mpass away the flower of her age;

And being married, lest she should be hated;

¹⁰In her virginity, ⁿlest she should be defiled

And gotten with child in her father’s house;

And having a husband, lest she should misbehave herself;

And when she is married, lest she should be barren.

^11oKeep a sure watch over a shameless daughter,

Lest she make thee a laughing-stock to thine enemies,

And a byword in the city, and a reproach among the people,

And make thee ashamed before the multitude.

¹²Behold not every body’s beauty,

And ^psit not in the midst of women.

¹³For from garments cometh a moth,

And ^qfrom women wickedness.

¹⁴Better is the churlishness of a man than a ^rcourteous woman,

A woman, I say, which bringeth shame and reproach.

¹⁵I will now remember the works of the Lord,

And declare the things that I have seen;

^sIn the words of the Lord are his works.

¹⁶The sun that giveth light looketh upon all things,

And the work thereof is full of the glory of the Lord.

^17tThe Lord hath not given power to the saints to declare all his marvellous works,

Which the ^uAlmighty Lord firmly settled,

That whatsoever is might be established for his glory.

¹⁸He seeketh out the deep, and the heart,

And considereth their ^vcrafty devices;

For the Lord knoweth all that may be known,

And he beholdeth ^wthe signs of the world.

^19xHe declareth the things that are past, and for to come,

And revealeth the steps of hidden things.

^20yNo thought escapeth him,

Neither any word is hidden from him.

^21zHe hath garnished ^zthe excellent works of his wisdom,

And he is from everlasting to everlasting:

^aUnto him may nothing be added, neither can he be diminished,

And ^bhe hath no need of any counseller.

²²O how desirable are all his works!

And that a man may see even to a spark.

²³All these things live and remain for ever

For all uses, and ^cthey are all obedient.

^24dAll things are double one against another:

And he hath made nothing unperfect.

²⁵One thing establisheth the good or another:

And who shall be filled with beholding his glory?

XLIII.