Sirach 15–16

Chapter 15

¹The man who fears the Lord will do this,

and he who holds to the law will obtain wisdom.^d

²She will come to meet him like a mother,

and like the wife of his youth she will welcome him.

³She will feed him with the bread of understanding,

and give him the water of wisdom to drink.

⁴He will lean on her and will not fall,

and he will rely on her and will not be put to shame.

⁵She will exalt him above his neighbors,

and will open his mouth in the midst of the assembly.

⁶He will find gladness and a crown of rejoicing,

and will acquire an everlasting name.

⁷Foolish men will not obtain her,

and sinful men will not see her.

⁸She is far from men of pride,

and liars will never think of her.

⁹A hymn of praise is not fitting on the lips of a sinner,

for it has not been sent from the Lord.

¹⁰For a hymn of praise should be uttered in wisdom,

and the Lord will prosper it.

¹¹Do not say, “Because of the Lord I left the right way”;

for he^e will not do what he hates.

¹²Do not say, “It was he who led me astray”;

for he had no need of a sinful man.

¹³The Lord hates all abominations,

and they are not loved by those who fear him.

¹⁴It was he who created man in the beginning,

and he left him in the power of his own inclination.

¹⁵If you will, you can keep the commandments,

and to act faithfully is a matter of your own choice.

¹⁶He has placed before you fire and water:

stretch out your hand for whichever you wish.

¹⁷Before a man^f are life and death,

and whichever he chooses will be given to him.

¹⁸For great is the wisdom of the Lord;

he is mighty in power and sees everything;

¹⁹his eyes are on those who fear him,

and he knows every deed of man.

²⁰He has not commanded any one to be ungodly,

and he has not given any one permission to sin.

Chapter 16

¹Do not desire a multitude of useless children,

nor rejoice in ungodly sons.

²If they multiply, do not rejoice in them,

unless the fear of the Lord is in them.

³Do not trust in their survival,

and do not rely on their multitude;

for one is better than a thousand,^g

and to die childless is better than to have ungodly children.

⁴For through one man of understanding a city will be filled with people,

but through a tribe of lawless men it will be made desolate.

⁵Many such things my eye has seen,

and my ear has heard things more striking than these.

⁶In an assembly of sinners a fire will be kindled,

and in a disobedient nation wrath was kindled.

⁷He was not propitiated for the ancient giants

who revolted in their might.

⁸He did not spare the neighbors of Lot,

whom he loathed on account of their insolence.

⁹He showed no pity for a nation devoted to destruction,

for those destroyed in their sins;

¹⁰nor for the six hundred thousand men on foot,

who rebelliously assembled in their stubbornness.

¹¹Even if there is only one stiff-necked person,

it will be a wonder if he remains unpunished.

For mercy and wrath are with the Lord;^h

he is mighty to forgive, and he pours out wrath.

¹²As great as his mercy, so great is also his reproof;

he judges a man according to his deeds.

¹³The sinner will not escape with his plunder,

and the patience of the godly will not be frustrated.

¹⁴He will make room for every act of mercy;

every one will receive in accordance with his deeds.

¹⁷Do not say, “I shall be hidden from the Lord,

and who from on high will remember me?

Among so many people I shall not be known,

for what is my soul in the boundless creation?

¹⁸Behold, heaven and the highest heaven,

the abyss and the earth, will tremble at his visitation.

¹⁹The mountains also and the foundations of the earth

shake with trembling when he looks upon them.

²⁰And no mind will reflect on this.

Who will ponder his ways?

²¹Like a tempest which no man can see,

so most of his works are concealed.

²²Who will announce his acts of justice?

Or who will await them? For the covenant is far off.”

²³This is what one devoid of understanding thinks;

a senseless and misguided man thinks foolishly.

²⁴Listen to me, my son, and acquire knowledge,

and pay close attention to my words.

²⁵I will impart instruction by weight,

and declare knowledge accurately.

²⁶The works of the Lord have existed from the beginning by his creation,^j

and when he made them, he determined their divisions.

²⁷He arranged his works in an eternal order,

and their dominion^k for all^l generations;

they neither hunger nor grow weary,

and they do not cease from their labors.

²⁸They do not crowd one another aside,

and they will never disobey his word.

²⁹After this the Lord looked upon the earth,

and filled it with his good things;

³⁰with all kinds of living beings he covered its surface,

and to it they return.