Ecclesiasticus / Sirach - Chapter 11

¹ Wisdom enables the poor to stand erect, and gives to the poor a place with the great.

² Do not praise anyone for good looks, nor dislike anyone for mere appearance.

³ Small among winged creatures is the bee but her produce is the sweetest of the sweet.

⁴ Do not grow proud when people honour you; for the works of the Lord are wonderful but hidden from human beings.

⁵ Many monarchs have been made to sit on the ground, and the person nobody thought of has worn the crown.

⁶ Many influential people have been utterly disgraced, and prominent people have fallen into the power of others.

⁷ Do not find fault before making thorough enquiry; first reflect, then give a reprimand.

⁸ Listen before you answer, and do not interrupt a speech before it is finished.

⁹ Do not wrangle about something that does not concern you, do not interfere in the quarrels of sinners.

¹⁰ My child, do not take on a great amount of business; if you multiply your interests, you are bound to suffer for it; hurry as fast as you can, yet you will never arrive, nor will you escape by running away.

¹¹ Some people work very hard at top speed, only to find themselves falling further behind.

¹² Or there is the slow kind of person, needing help, poor in possessions and rich in poverty; and the Lord turns a favourable eye on him, lifts him out of his wretched condition,

¹³ and enables him to hold his head high, thus causing general astonishment.

¹⁴ Good and bad, life and death, poverty and wealth, all come from the Lord.

¹⁵

¹⁶

¹⁷ To the devout the Lord's gift remains constant, and his favour will be there to lead them for ever.

¹⁸ Others grow rich by pinching and scraping, and here is the reward they receive for it:

¹⁹ although they say, 'Now I can sit back and enjoy the benefit of what I have got,' they do not know how long this will last; they will have to leave their goods to others and die.

²⁰ Stick to your job, work hard at it and grow old at your work.

²¹ Do not admire the achievements of sinners, trust the Lord and mind your own business; since it is a trifle in the eyes of the Lord, in a moment, suddenly to make the poor rich.

²² The blessing of the Lord is the reward of the devout, in a moment God brings his blessing to flower.

²³ Do not say, 'What are my needs, how much shall I have in the future?'

²⁴ And do not say, 'I am self-sufficient, what disaster can affect me now?'

²⁵ In prosperous times, disasters are forgotten and in times of disaster, no one remembers prosperity.

²⁶ Yet it is a trifle for the Lord on the day someone dies to repay him as his conduct deserves.

²⁷ A moment's adversity, and pleasures are forgotten; in a person's last hour his deeds will stand revealed.

²⁸ Call no one fortunate before his death; it is by his end that someone will be known.

²⁹ Do not bring everyone home with you, for many are the traps of the crafty.

³⁰ Like a captive partridge in a cage, so is the heart of the proud: like a spy he watches for your downfall,

³¹ ever on the look-out, turning good into bad and finding fault with what is praiseworthy.

³² A hearthful of glowing coals starts from a single spark, and the sinner lurks for the chance to spill blood.

³³ Beware of a scoundrel and his evil contrivances, in case he puts a smear on you for ever.

³⁴ Give a home to a stranger and he will start trouble and estrange you from your own family.

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