Sirach 10:6–18

6 Do not be angry with your neighbor for any injury,

and do not attempt anything by acts of insolence.

7 Arrogance is hateful before the Lord and before men,

and injustice is outrageous to both.

8 Sovereignty passes from nation to nation

on account of injustice and insolence and wealth.

9 How can he who is dust and ashes be proud?

for even in life his bowels decay.

10 A long illness baffles the physician;

the king of today will die tomorrow.

11 For when a man is dead,

he will inherit creeping things, and wild beasts, and worms.

12 The beginning of man’s pride is to depart from the Lord;

his heart has forsaken his Maker.

13 For the beginning of pride is sin,

and the man who clings to it pours out abominations.

Therefore the Lord brought upon them extraordinary afflictions,

and destroyed them utterly.

14 The Lord has cast down the thrones of rulers,

and has seated the lowly in their place.

15 The Lord has plucked up the roots of the nations,

and has planted the humble in their place.

16 The Lord has overthrown the lands of the nations,

and has destroyed them to the foundations of the earth.

17 He has removed some of them and destroyed them,

and has extinguished the memory of them from the earth.

18 Pride was not created for men,

nor fierce anger for those born of women.