Sirach 41–42

Chapter 41

¹O death, how bitter is the reminder of you

to one who lives at peace among his possessions,

to a man without distractions, who is prosperous in everything,

and who still has the vigor to enjoy his food!

²O death, how welcome is your sentence

to one who is in need and is failing in strength,

very old and distracted over everything;

to one who is contrary, and has lost his patience!

³Do not fear the sentence of death;

remember your former days and the end of life;

this is the decree from the Lord for all flesh,

⁴and how can you reject the good pleasure of the Most High?

Whether life is for ten or a hundred or a thousand years,

there is no inquiry about it in Hades.

⁵The children of sinners are abominable children,

and they frequent the haunts of the ungodly.

⁶The inheritance of the children of sinners will perish,

and on their posterity will be a perpetual reproach.

⁷Children will blame an ungodly father,

for they suffer reproach because of him.

⁸Woe to you, ungodly men,

who have forsaken the law of the Most High God!

⁹When you are born, you are born to a curse;

and when you die, a curse is your lot.

¹⁰Whatever is from the dust returns to dust;

so the ungodly go from curse to destruction.

¹¹The mourning of men is about their bodies,

but the evil name of sinners will be blotted out.

¹²Have regard for your name, since it will remain for

you longer than a thousand great stores of gold.

¹³The days of a good life are numbered,

but a good name endures for ever.

¹⁴My children, observe instruction and be at peace;

hidden wisdom and unseen treasure,

what advantage is there in either of them?

¹⁵Better is the man who hides his folly

than the man who hides his wisdom.

¹⁶Therefore show respect for my words:

For it is good to retain every kind of shame,

and not everything is confidently esteemed by every one.

¹⁷Be ashamed of immorality, before your father or mother;

and of a lie, before a prince or a ruler;

¹⁸of a transgression, before a judge or magistrate;

and of iniquity, before a congregation or the people;

of unjust dealing, before your partner or friend;

¹⁹and of theft, in the place where you live.

Be ashamed before the truth of God and his covenant.

Be ashamed of selfish behavior at meals,

of surliness in receiving and giving,

²⁰and of silence, before those who greet you;

of looking at a woman who is a harlot,

²¹and of rejecting the appeal of a kinsman;

of taking away some one’s portion or gift,

and of gazing at another man’s wife;

²²of meddling with his maidservant—

and do not approach her bed;

of abusive words, before friends—

and do not upbraid after making a gift;

²³of repeating and telling what you hear,

and of revealing secrets.

Then you will show proper shame,

and will find favor with every man.

Chapter 42

¹Of the following things do not be ashamed,

and do not let partiality lead you to sin:

²of the law of the Most High and his covenant,

and of rendering judgment to acquit the ungodly;

³of keeping accounts with a partner or with traveling companions,

and of dividing the inheritance of friends;

⁴of accuracy with scales and weights,

and of acquiring much or little;

⁵of profit from dealing with merchants,

and of much discipline of children,

and of whipping a wicked servant severely.

⁶Where there is an evil wife, a seal is a good thing;

and where there are many hands, lock things up.

⁷Whatever you deal out, let it be by number and weight,

and make a record of all that you give out or take in.

⁸Do not be ashamed to instruct the stupid or foolish

or the aged man who quarrels with the young.

Then you will be truly instructed,

and will be approved before all men.

⁹A daughter keeps her father secretly wakeful,

and worry over her robs him of sleep;

when she is young, lest she do not marry,

or if married, lest she be hated;

¹⁰while a virgin, lest she be defiled

or become pregnant in her father’s house;

or having a husband, lest she prove unfaithful,

or, though married, lest she be barren.

¹¹Keep strict watch over a headstrong daughter,

lest she make you a laughingstock to your enemies,

a byword in the city and notorious among the people,

and put you to shame before the great multitude.

¹²Do not look upon any one for beauty,

and do not sit in the midst of women;

¹³for from garments comes the moth,

and from a woman comes woman’s wickedness.

¹⁴Better is the wickedness of a man than a woman who does good;

and it is a woman who brings shame and disgrace.

¹⁵I will now call to mind the works of the Lord,

and will declare what I have seen.

By the words of the Lord his works are done.

¹⁶The sun looks down on everything with its light,

and the work of the Lord is full of his glory.

¹⁷The Lord has not enabled his holy ones

to recount all his marvelous works,

which the Lord the Almighty has established

that the universe may stand firm in his glory.

¹⁸He searches out the abyss, and the hearts of men,

and considers their crafty devices.

For the Most High knows all that may be known,

and he looks into the signs of the age.

¹⁹He declares what has been and what is to be,

and he reveals the tracks of hidden things.

²⁰No thought escapes him,

and not one word is hidden from him.

²¹He has ordained the splendors of his wisdom,

and he is from everlasting and to everlasting.

Nothing can be added or taken away,

and he needs no one to be his counselor.

²²How greatly to be desired are all his works,

and how sparkling they are to see!

²³All these things live and remain for ever

for every need, and are all obedient.

²⁴All things are twofold, one opposite the other,

and he has made nothing incomplete.

²⁵One confirms the good things of the other,

and who can have enough of beholding his glory?