(ECCLESIASTICUS, OR THE WISDOM OF JESUS, SON OF SIRACH)
Chapter 21
2: Flee from sin as from a snake; for if you approach sin, it will bite you. Its teeth are lion’s teeth, and can destroy human lives.
3: All lawlessness is like a two-edged sword; there is no healing for the wound it inflicts.
4: Panic and insolence will waste away riches; thus the house of the proud will be laid waste.
5: The prayer of the poor goes from their lips to the ears of God, and his judgement comes speedily.
6: Those who hate reproof walk in the sinner’s steps, but those who fear the Lord repent in their heart.
7: The mighty in speech are widely known; when they slip, the sensible person knows it.
8: Whoever builds his house with other people’s money is like one who gathers stones for his burial mound.
9: An assembly of the wicked is like a bundle of tow, and their end is a blazing fire.
10: The way of sinners is paved with smooth stones, but at its end is the pit of Hades.
Wisdom and Foolishness
11: Whoever keeps the law controls his thoughts, and the fulfilment of the fear of the Lord is wisdom.
12: One who is not clever cannot be taught, but there is a cleverness that increases bitterness.
13: The knowledge of the wise will increase like a flood, and their counsel like a life-giving spring.
14: The mind of a fool is like a broken jar; it can hold no knowledge.
15: When an intelligent person hears a wise saying, he praises it and adds to it; when a fool hears it, he laughs at it and throws it behind his back.
16: A fool’s chatter is like a burden on a journey, but delight is found in the speech of the intelligent.
17: The utterance of a sensible person is sought in the assembly, and they ponder his words in their minds.
18: Like a house in ruins is wisdom to a fool, and to the ignorant, knowledge is talk that has no meaning.
19: To a senseless person education is fetters on his feet, and like manacles on his right hand.
20: A fool raises his voice when he laughs, but the wise smile quietly.
21: To the sensible person education is like a golden ornament, and like a bracelet on the right arm.
22: The foot of a fool rushes into a house, but an experienced person waits respectfully outside.
23: A boor peers into the house from the door, but a cultivated person remains outside.
24: It is ill-mannered for a person to listen at a door; the discreet would be grieved by the disgrace.
25: The lips of babblers speak of what is not their concern, but the words of the prudent are weighed in the balance.
26: The mind of fools is in their mouth, but the mouth of the wise is in their mind.
27: When an ungodly person curses an adversary, he curses himself.
28: A whisperer degrades himself and is hated in his neighbourhood.
Chapter 22
1: The idler is like a filthy stone, and everyone hisses at his disgrace.
2: The idler is like the filth of dunghills; anyone that picks it up will shake it off his hand.
Degenerate Children
3: It is a disgrace to be the father of an undisciplined son, and the birth of a daughter is a loss.
4: A sensible daughter obtains a husband of her own, but one who acts shamefully is a grief to her father.
5: An impudent daughter disgraces father and husband, and is despised by both.
6: Like music in time of mourning is ill-timed conversation, but a thrashing and discipline are at all times wisdom.
Wisdom and Folly
9: Whoever teaches a fool is like one who glues potsherds together, or who rouses a sleeper from deep slumber.
10: Whoever tells a story to a fool tells it to a drowsy man; and at the end he will say, ‘What is it?’
11: Weep for the dead, for he has left the light behind; and weep for the fool, for he has left intelligence behind. Weep less bitterly for the dead, for he is at rest; but the life of the fool is worse than death.
12: Mourning for the dead lasts seven days, but for the foolish or the ungodly it lasts all the days of their lives.
13: Do not talk much with a senseless person or visit an unintelligent person. Stay clear of him, or you may have trouble, and be spattered when he shakes himself. Avoid him and you will find rest, and you will never be wearied by his lack of sense.
14: What is heavier than lead? And what is its name except ‘Fool’?
15: Sand, salt, and a piece of iron are easier to bear than a stupid person.
16: A wooden beam firmly bonded into a building is not loosened by an earthquake; so the mind firmly resolved after due reflection will not be afraid in a crisis.
17: A mind settled on an intelligent thought is like stucco decoration that makes a wall smooth.
18: Fences set on a high place will not stand firm against the wind; so a timid mind with a fool’s resolve will not stand firm against any fear.
The Preservation of Friendship
19: One who pricks the eye brings tears, and one who pricks the heart makes clear its feelings.
20: One who throws a stone at birds scares them away, and one who reviles a friend destroys a friendship.
21: Even if you draw your sword against a friend, do not despair, for there is a way back.
22: If you open your mouth against your friend, do not worry, for reconciliation is possible. But as for reviling, arrogance, disclosure of secrets, or a treacherous blow - in these cases any friend will take to flight.
23: Gain the trust of your neighbour in his poverty, so that you may rejoice with him in his prosperity. Stand by him in time of distress, so that you may share with him in his inheritance.
24: The vapour and smoke of the furnace precede the fire; so insults precede bloodshed.
25: I am not ashamed to shelter a friend, and I will not hide from him.
26: But if harm should come to me because of him, whoever hears of it will beware of him.
A Prayer for Help against Sinning
27: Who will set a guard over my mouth, and an effective seal upon my lips, so that I may not fall because of them, and my tongue may not destroy me?
Chapter 23
2: Who will set whips over my thoughts and the discipline of wisdom over my mind, so as not to spare me in my errors, and not overlook my sins?
3: Otherwise my mistakes may be multiplied, and my sins may abound, and I may fall before my adversaries, and my enemy may rejoice over me.
4: O Lord, Father and God of my life, do not give me haughty eyes,
5: and remove evil desire from me.
6: Let neither gluttony nor lust overcome me, and do not give me over to shameless passion.
Discipline of the Tongue
7: Listen, my children, to instruction concerning the mouth; one who observes it will never be caught.
8: Sinners are overtaken through their lips; by them the reviler and the arrogant are tripped up.
9: Do not accustom your mouth to oaths, nor habitually utter the name of the Holy One;
10: for as a servant who is constantly under scrutiny will not lack bruises, so also the person who always swears and utters the Name will never be cleansed from sin.
11: One who swears many oaths is full of iniquity, and the scourge will not leave his house. If he swears in error, his sin remains on him, and if he disregards it, he sins doubly; if he swears a false oath, he will not be justified, for his house will be filled with calamities.
Foul Language
12: There is a manner of speaking comparable to death; may it never be found in the inheritance of Jacob! Such conduct will be far from the godly, and they will not wallow in sins.
13: Do not accustom your mouth to coarse, foul language, for it involves sinful speech.
14: Remember your father and mother when you sit among the great or you may forget yourself in their presence, and behave like a fool through bad habit; then you will wish that you had never been born, and you will curse the day of your birth.
15: Those who are accustomed to using abusive language will never become disciplined as long as they live.
Concerning Sexual Sins
16: Two kinds of individuals multiply sins, and a third incurs wrath. Hot passion that blazes like a fire will not be quenched until it burns itself out; one who commits fornication with his near of kin will never cease until the fire burns him up.
17: To a fornicator all bread is sweet; he will never weary until he dies.
18: One who sins against his marriage bed says to himself, ‘Who can see me? Darkness surrounds me, the walls hide me, and no one sees me. Why should I worry? The Most High will not remember sins.’
19: His fear is confined to human eyes and he does not realize that the eyes of the Lord are ten thousand times brighter than the sun; they look upon every aspect of human behaviour and see into hidden corners.
20: Before the universe was created, it was known to him, and so it is since its completion.
21: This man will be punished in the streets of the city, and where he least suspects it, he will be seized.
22: So it is with a woman who leaves her husband and presents him with an heir by another man.
23: For first of all, she has disobeyed the law of the Most High; second, she has committed an offence against her husband; and third, through her fornication she has committed adultery and brought forth children by another man.
24: She herself will be brought before the assembly, and her punishment will extend to her children.
25: Her children will not take root, and her branches will not bear fruit.
26: She will leave behind an accursed memory and her disgrace will never be blotted out.
27: Those who survive her will recognize that nothing is better than the fear of the Lord,
and nothing sweeter than to heed the commandments of the Lord.
Chapter 24
1: Wisdom praises herself, and tells of her glory in the midst of her people.
2: In the assembly of the Most High she opens her mouth, and in the presence of his hosts she tells of her glory:
3: ‘I came forth from the mouth of the Most High, and covered the earth like a mist.
4: I dwelt in the highest heavens, and my throne was in a pillar of cloud.
5: Alone I compassed the vault of heaven and traversed the depths of the abyss.
6: Over waves of the sea, over all the earth, and over every people and nation I have held sway.
7: Among all these I sought a resting-place; in whose territory should I abide?
8: ‘Then the Creator of all things gave me a command, and my Creator chose the place for my tent. He said, “Make your dwelling in Jacob, and in Israel receive your inheritance.”
9: Before the ages, in the beginning, he created me, and for all the ages I shall not cease to be.
10: In the holy tent I ministered before him, and so I was established in Zion.
11: Thus in the beloved city he gave me a resting-place, and in Jerusalem was my domain.
12: I took root in an honoured people, in the portion of the Lord, his heritage.
13: ‘I grew tall like a cedar in Lebanon, and like a cypress on the heights of Hermon.
14: I grew tall like a palm tree in En-gedi, and like rose-bushes in Jericho; like a fair olive tree in the field, and like a plane tree beside water I grew tall.
15: Like cassia and camel’s thorn I gave forth perfume, and like choice myrrh I spread my fragrance, like galbanum, onycha, and stacte, and like the odour of incense in the tent.
16: Like a terebinth I spread out my branches, and my branches are glorious and graceful.
17: Like the vine I bud forth delights, and my blossoms become glorious and abundant fruit.
18, 19: ‘Come to me, you who desire me, and eat your fill of my fruits.
20: For the memory of me is sweeter than honey, and the possession of me sweeter than the honeycomb.
21: Those who eat of me will hunger for more, and those who drink of me will thirst for more.
22: Whoever obeys me will not be put to shame, and those who work with me will not sin.’
Wisdom and the Law
23:, 24: All this is the book of the covenant of the Most High God, the law that Moses commanded us as an inheritance for the congregations of Jacob.
25: It overflows, like the Pishon, with wisdom, and like the Tigris at the time of the first fruits.
26: It runs over, like the Euphrates, with understanding, and like the Jordan at harvest time.
27: It pours forth instruction like the Nile, like the Gihon at the time of vintage.
28: The first man did not know wisdom fully, nor will the last one fathom her.
29: For her thoughts are more abundant than the sea, and her counsel deeper than the great abyss.
30: As for me, I was like a canal from a river, like a water channel into a garden.
31: I said, ‘I will water my garden and drench my flower-beds.’ And lo, my canal became a river, and my river a sea.
32: I will again make instruction shine forth like the dawn, and I will make it clear from far away.
33: I will again pour out teaching like prophecy, and leave it to all future generations.
34: Observe that I have not laboured for myself alone, but for all who seek wisdom.
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