1 He that feareth the Lord will do good; And he that hath the knowledge of the law shall obtain her; 2 And as a mother shall she meet him, And receive him as a wife married of a virgin. 3 With the bread of understanding shall she feed him, And give him the water of wisdom to drink. 4 He shall be stayed upon her, and shall not be moved; And shall rely upon her, and shall not be confounded. 5 She shall exalt him above his neighbors, And in the midst of the congregation shall she open his mouth. 6 He shall find joy and a crown of gladness, And she shall cause him to inherit an everlasting name. 7 But foolish men shall not attain unto her, And sinners shall not see her. 8 For she is far from pride, And men that are liars cannot remember her. 9 Praise is not seemly in the mouth of a sinner, For it was not sent him of the Lord. 10 For praise shall be uttered in wisdom, And the Lord will prosper it. 11 Say not thou, It is through the Lord that I fell away: For thou oughtest not to do the things that he hateth. 12 Say not thou, He hath caused me to err: For he hath no need of the sinful man. 13 The Lord hateth all abomination; And they that fear God love it not. 14 He himself made man from the beginning, And left him in the hand of his counsel; 15 If thou wilt, to keep the commandments, And to perform acceptable faithfulness. 16 He hath set fire and water before thee: Stretch forth thy hand unto whether thou wilt. 17 Before man is life and death; And whether he liketh shall be given him. 18 For the wisdom of the Lord is great, And he is mighty in power, and beholdeth all things: 19 And his eyes are upon them that fear him, And he knoweth every work of man. 20 He hath commanded no man to do wickedly, Neither hath he given any man license to sin.
Sirach · Updated Brenton English Septuagint
Sirach 15 Updated Brenton English Septuagint
Notes on this text (1)
- Same Septuagint text as Brenton, with modernised spelling.
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
For the covenant from the beginning is, Thou shall die the death." Now, as the law was more plainly given afterward, and the apostle says, "Where no law is, there is no prevarication," on what supposition is what is said in the psalm true, "I accounted all the sinners of the earth prevaricators," except that all who are held liable …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)
In another place it is said, "Praise is not seemly in the mouth of a sinner." If then in the mouth of a sinner praise is not seemly, neither is it pleasant, for that only is pleasant which is seemly....For praise may be pleasant to a man, when he heareth one praising with neat and clever sentiments, and with a …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 8 (1888)