(ECCLESIASTICUS, OR THE WISDOM OF JESUS SON OF SIRACH)
Chapter 11
The Deceptiveness of Appearances
1: The wisdom of the humble lifts their heads high, and seats them among the great.
2: Do not praise individuals for their good looks, or loathe anyone because of appearance alone.
3: The bee is small among flying creatures, but what it produces is the best of sweet things.
4: Do not boast about wearing fine clothes, and do not exalt yourself when you are honoured; for the works of the Lord are wonderful, and his works are concealed from humankind.
5: Many kings have had to sit on the ground, but one who was never thought of has worn a crown.
6: Many rulers have been utterly disgraced, and the honoured have been handed over to others.
Deliberation and Caution
7: Do not find fault before you investigate; examine first, and then criticize.
8: Do not answer before you listen, and do not interrupt when another is speaking.
9: Do not argue about a matter that does not concern you, and do not sit with sinners when they judge a case.
10: My child, do not busy yourself with many matters; if you multiply activities, you will not be held blameless. If you pursue, you will not overtake, and by fleeing you will not escape.
11: There are those who work and struggle and hurry, but are so much the more in want.
12: There are others who are slow and need help, who lack strength and abound in poverty; but the eyes of the Lord look kindly upon them; he lifts them out of their lowly condition
13: and raises up their heads to the amazement of many
14: Good things and bad, life and death, poverty and wealth, come from the Lord.
17: The Lord’s gift remains with the devout, and his favour brings lasting success.
18: One becomes rich through diligence and self-denial, and the reward allotted to him is this:
19: when he says, ‘I have found rest, and now I shall feast on my goods!’ he does not know how long it will be until he leaves them to others and dies.
20: Stand by your agreement and attend to it, and grow old in your work.
21: Do not wonder at the works of a sinner, but trust in the Lord and keep at your job;
for it is easy in the sight of the Lord to make the poor rich suddenly, in an instant.
for it is easy in the sight of the Lord to make the poor rich suddenly, in an instant.
22: The blessing of the Lord is the reward of the pious, and quickly God causes his blessing to flourish.
23: Do not say, ‘What do I need, and what further benefit can be mine?’
24: Do not say, ‘I have enough, and what harm can come to me now?’
25: In the day of prosperity, adversity is forgotten, and in the day of adversity, prosperity is not remembered.
26: For it is easy for the Lord on the day of death to reward individuals according to their conduct.
27: An hour’s misery makes one forget past delights, and at the close of one’s life one’s deeds are revealed.
28: Call no one happy before his death; by how he ends, a person becomes known.
Care in Choosing Friends
29: Do not invite everyone into your home, for many are the tricks of the crafty.
30: Like a decoy partridge in a cage, so is the mind of the proud, and like spies they observe your weakness;
31: for they lie in wait, turning good into evil, and to worthy actions they attach blame.
32: From a spark many coals are kindled, and a sinner lies in wait to shed blood.
33: Beware of scoundrels, for they devise evil, and they may ruin your reputation for ever.
34: Receive strangers into your home and they will stir up trouble for you, and will make you a stranger to your own family.
Chapter 12
1: If you do good, know to whom you do it, and you will be thanked for your good deeds.
2: Do good to the devout, and you will be repaid - if not by them, certainly by the Most High.
3: No good comes to one who persists in evil or to one who does not give alms.
4: Give to the devout, but do not help the sinner.
5: Do good to the humble, but do not give to the ungodly; hold back their bread, and do not give it to them, for by means of it they might subdue you; then you will receive twice as much evil for all the good you have done to them.
6: For the Most High also hates sinners and will inflict punishment on the ungodly.
7: Give to one who is good, but do not help the sinner.
8: A friend is not known in prosperity, nor is an enemy hidden in adversity.
9: One’s enemies are friendly when one prospers, but in adversity even one’s friend disappears.
10: Never trust your enemy, for like corrosion in copper, so is his wickedness.
11: Even if he humbles himself and walks bowed down, take care to be on your guard against him. Be to him like one who polishes a mirror, to be sure it does not become completely tarnished.
12: Do not put him next to you, or he may overthrow you and take your place. Do not let him sit at your right hand, or else he may try to take your own seat, and at last you will realize the truth of my words, and be stung by what I have said.
13: Who pities a snake-charmer when he is bitten, or all those who go near wild animals?
14: So no one pities a person who associates with a sinner and becomes involved in the other’s sins.
15: He stands by you for a while, but if you falter, he will not be there.
16: An enemy speaks sweetly with his lips, but in his heart he plans to throw you into a pit; an enemy may have tears in his eyes, but if he finds an opportunity he will never have enough of your blood.
17: If evil comes upon you, you will find him there ahead of you; pretending to help, he will trip you up.
18: Then he will shake his head, and clap his hands, and whisper much, and show his true face.
Chapter 13
Caution Regarding Associates
1: Whoever touches pitch gets dirty, and whoever associates with a proud person becomes like him.
2: Do not lift a weight too heavy for you, or associate with one mightier and richer than you. How can the clay pot associate with the iron kettle? The pot will strike against it and be smashed.
3: A rich person does wrong, and even adds insults; a poor person suffers wrong, and must add apologies.
4: A rich person will exploit you if you can be of use to him, but if you are in need he will abandon you.
5: If you own something, he will live with you; he will drain your resources without a qualm.
6: When he needs you he will deceive you, and will smile at you and encourage you; he will speak to you kindly and say, ‘What do you need?’
7: He will embarrass you with his delicacies, until he has drained you two or three times, and finally he will laugh at you. Should he see you afterwards, he will pass you by and shake his head at you.
8: Take care not to be led astray and humiliated when you are enjoying yourself.
9: When an influential person invites you, be reserved, and he will invite you more insistently.
10: Do not be forward, or you may be rebuffed; do not stand aloof, or you will be forgotten.
11: Do not try to treat him as an equal, or trust his lengthy conversations; for he will test you by prolonged talk, and while he smiles he will be examining you.
12: Cruel are those who do not keep your secrets; they will not spare you harm or imprisonment.
13, 14: Be on your guard and very careful, for you are walking about with your own downfall.
15: Every creature loves its like, and every person a neighbour.
16: All living beings associate with their own kind, and people stick close to those like themselves.
17: What does a wolf have in common with a lamb? No more has a sinner with the devout.
18: What peace is there between a hyena and a dog? And what peace between the rich and the poor?
19: Wild asses in the wilderness are the prey of lions; likewise the poor are feeding-grounds for the rich.
20: Humility is an abomination to the proud; likewise the poor are an abomination to the rich.
21: When the rich person totters, he is supported by friends, but when the humble falls, he is pushed away even by friends.
22: If the rich person slips, many come to the rescue; he speaks unseemly words, but they justify him. If the humble person slips, they even criticize him; he talks sense, but is not given a hearing.
23: The rich person speaks and all are silent; they extol to the clouds what he says. The poor person speaks and they say, ‘Who is this fellow?’ And should he stumble, they even push him down.
24: Riches are good if they are free from sin; poverty is evil only in the opinion of the ungodly.
25: The heart changes the countenance, either for good or for evil.
26: The sign of a happy heart is a cheerful face, but to devise proverbs requires painful thinking.
Chapter 14
1: Happy are those who do not blunder with their lips, and need not suffer remorse for sin.
2: Happy are those whose hearts do not condemn them, and who have not given up their hope.
Responsible Use of Wealth
3: Riches are inappropriate for a small-minded person; and of what use is wealth to a miser?
4: What he denies himself he collects for others; and others will live in luxury on his goods.
5: If one is mean to himself, to whom will he be generous? He will not enjoy his own riches.
6: No one is worse than one who is grudging to himself; this is the punishment for his meanness.
7: If ever he does good, it is by mistake; and in the end he reveals his meanness.
8: The miser is an evil person; he turns away and disregards people.
9: The eye of the greedy person is not satisfied with his share; greedy injustice withers the soul.
10: A miser begrudges bread, and it is lacking at his table.
11: My child, treat yourself well, according to your means, and present worthy offerings to the Lord.
12: Remember that death does not tarry, and the decree of Hades has not been shown to you.
13: Do good to friends before you die, and reach out and give to them as much as you can.
14: Do not deprive yourself of a day’s enjoyment; do not let your share of desired good pass by you.
15: Will you not leave the fruit of your labours to another, and what you acquired by toil to be divided by lot?
16: Give, and take, and indulge yourself, because in Hades one cannot look for luxury.
17: All living beings become old like a garment, for the decree from of old is, ‘You must die!’
18: Like abundant leaves on a spreading tree that sheds some and puts forth others, so are the generations of flesh and blood: one dies and another is born.
19: Every work decays and ceases to exist, and the one who made it will pass away with it.
The Happiness of Seeking Wisdom
20: Happy is the person who meditates on wisdom and reasons intelligently,
21: who reflects in his heart on her ways and ponders her secrets,
22: pursuing her like a hunter, and lying in wait on her paths;
23: who peers through her windows and listens at her doors;
24: who camps near her house and fastens his tent-peg to her walls;
25: who pitches his tent near her, and so occupies an excellent lodging-place;
26: who places his children under her shelter, and lodges under her boughs;
27: who is sheltered by her from the heat, and dwells in the midst of her glory.
Chapter 15
1: Whoever fears the Lord will do this, and whoever holds to the law will obtain wisdom.
2: She will come to meet him like a mother, and like a young bride she will welcome him.
3: She will feed him with the bread of learning, and give him the water of wisdom to drink.
4: He will lean on her and not fall, and he will rely on her and not be put to shame.
5: She will exalt him above his neighbours, and will open his mouth in the midst of the assembly.
6: He will find gladness and a crown of rejoicing, and will inherit an everlasting name.
7: The foolish will not obtain her, and sinners will not see her.
8: She is far from arrogance, and liars will never think of her.
9: Praise is unseemly on the lips of a sinner, for it has not been sent from the Lord.
10: For in wisdom must praise be uttered, and the Lord will make it prosper.
Freedom of Choice
11: Do not say, ‘It was the Lord’s doing that I fell away’; for he does not do what he hates.
12: Do not say, ‘It was he who led me astray’; for he has no need of the sinful.
13: The Lord hates all abominations; such things are not loved by those who fear him.
14: It was he who created humankind in the beginning, and he left them in the power of their own free choice.
15: If you choose, you can keep the commandments, and to act faithfully is a matter of your own choice.
16: He has placed before you fire and water; stretch out your hand for whichever you choose.
17: Before each person are life and death, and whichever one chooses will be given.
18: For great is the wisdom of the Lord; he is mighty in power and sees everything;
19: his eyes are on those who fear him, and he knows every human action.
20: He has not commanded anyone to be wicked, and he has not given anyone permission to sin.
No comments:
Post a Comment