Sirach · Catholic Public Domain Version
Sirach 4 Catholic Public Domain Version
Notes on this text (3)
- Esther and Daniel are the Vulgate books (Esther 1–16 with the Greek additions as chapters 10:4–16; Daniel 1–14 with the Song of the Three, Susanna and Bel). Baruch 6 is the Letter of Jeremiah.
- The translator's footnotes, cross-references, chapter summaries and book introductions in the CrossWire module are not shown.
- No imprimatur; single translator.
1 Son, you should not cheat the poor out of alms, nor should you avert your eyes from a poor man.
1 My son, don’t deprive the poor of his living. Don’t make the needy eyes wait long.
2 You should not despise the hungry soul, and you should not aggravate a poor man in his need.
2 Don’t make a hungry soul sorrowful, or provoke a man in his distress.
3 You should not afflict the heart of the needy, and you should not delay an offer to someone in anguish.
3 Don’t add more trouble to a heart that is provoked. Don’t put off giving to him who is in need.
4 You should not make requests of one who is greatly troubled, and you should not avert your face from the indigent.
4 Don’t reject a suppliant in his affliction. Don’t turn your face away from a poor man.
5 You should not avert your eyes from the needy out of anger. And you should not abandon those who seek help from you, so that they speak curses behind your back.
5 Don’t turn your eye away from one who asks. Give no occasion to a man to curse you.
6 For the pleadings of him who speaks curses of you, in the bitterness of his soul, will be heeded. For the One who made him will heed him.
6 For if he curses you in the bitterness of his soul, he who made him will hear his supplication.
7 Make yourself a friend to the congregation of the poor, and humble your soul before an elder, and humble your head before the great.
7 Endear yourself to the assembly. Bow your head to a great man.
8 Turn your ear without sadness toward the poor, and repay your debt, and respond to him peacefully in meekness.
8 Incline your ear to a poor man. Answer him with peaceful words in humility.
9 Free him who suffers injury at the hand of the arrogant, and do not carry animosity in your soul.
9 Deliver him who is wronged from the hand of him who wrongs him; Don’t be hesitant in giving judgment.
10 In judging, be merciful to the orphan, like a father, and be merciful to their mother, like a husband.
10 Be as a father to the fatherless, and like a husband to their mother. So you will be as a son of the Most High, and he will love you more than your mother does.
11 And then you shall be like an obedient son of the Most High, and he will take pity on you more than a mother would.
11 Wisdom exalts her sons, and takes hold of those who seek her.
12 Wisdom breathes life into her sons, and she lifts up those who are seeking her, and she will precede them in the way of justice.
12 He who loves her loves life. Those who seek her early will be filled with gladness.
13 And he who loves her loves life. And those who watch for her shall embrace her delights.
13 He who holds her fast will inherit glory. Where he enters, the Lord will bless.
14 Those who hold to her will inherit life. And whatever place she enters, God will bless.
14 Those who serve her minister to the Holy One. The Lord loves those who love her.
15 Those who serve her will yield to what is holy. And God loves those who love wisdom.
15 He who listens to her will judge the nations. He who heeds her will dwell securely.
16 He who listens to her shall judge the nations. And he who gazes upon her will remain secure.
16 If he trusts her, he will inherit her, and his generations will possess her.
17 If he believes in her, he will inherit her, and whatever arises from him will be confirmed.
17 For at the first she will walk with him in crooked ways, and will bring fear and dread upon him, and torment him with her discipline, until she may trust his soul, and try him by her judgments.
18 For she walks with him through temptation, and she chooses him from the beginning.
18 Then she will return him again to the straight way, and will gladden him, and reveal to him her secrets.
19 She will lead fear and dread and trials over him, and she will crucify him with the tribulation of her doctrine, until she has tested him in his thoughts and she can trust in his soul.
19 If he goes astray, she will forsake him, and hand him over to his fall.
20 And then she will strengthen him, and lead him along a straight path, and rejoice in him.
20 Watch for the opportunity, and beware of evil. Don’t be ashamed of your soul.
21 And she will disclose her secrets to him, and she will store up treasure, of the knowledge and understanding of justice, in him.
21 For there is a shame that brings sin, and there is a shame that is glory and grace.
22 But if he has wandered astray, she will leave him behind, and she will deliver him into the hands of his enemy.
22 Don’t show partiality, discrediting your soul. Don’t revere any man to your falling.
23 Son, be continually observant, and keep away from evil.
23 Don’t refrain from speaking when it is for safety. Don’t hide your wisdom for the sake of seeming fair.
24 For the sake of your soul, you should not be ashamed to speak the truth.
24 For wisdom will be known by speech, and instruction by the word of the tongue.
25 For there is a shame that brings sin, and there is a shame that brings glory and grace.
25 Don’t speak against the truth and be shamed for your ignorance.
26 You should not accept a face contrary to your own face, nor should you accept a lie contrary to your own soul.
26 Don’t be ashamed to confess your sins. Don’t fight the river’s current.
27 You should not enjoy the fall of your neighbor.
27 Don’t lay yourself down for a fool to tread upon. Don’t be partial to one who is mighty.
28 Neither should you withhold words at an opportunity for salvation. You should not conceal your wisdom in her beauty.
28 Strive for the truth to death, and the Lord God will fight for you.
29 For wisdom is discerned within speech. And understanding and knowledge and doctrine are discerned in the words of those who understand and by their steadfastness in the works of justice.
29 Don’t be hasty with your tongue, or slack and negligent in your deeds.
30 You should not contradict a word of truth in any way. Otherwise, by a falsehood born of ignorance, you will be confounded.
30 Don’t be like a lion in your house, or suspicious of your servants.
31 You should not be ashamed to confess your sins, but do not subject yourself to any man because of sin.
31 Don’t let your hand be stretched out to receive, and closed when you should repay.
32 Do not choose to stand against the face of the powerful, for you should not strive against the current of the river.
32 Not in this translation
33 Suffer for justice, on behalf of your soul, and struggle, even unto death, on behalf of justice, and God will fight against your enemies on your behalf.
33 Not in this translation
34 Do not choose to be quick with your words, nor unproductive or neglectful in your works.
34 Not in this translation
35 Do not choose to be like a lion in your house, distressing those of your household, and oppressing those who are subject to you.
35 Not in this translation
36 Do not let your hand be open when receiving, but closed when giving.
36 Not in this translation
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).
Now "all consummation" appeareth to me in this place to signify, the striving even unto death for the truth, and the endurance of every evil for the true and chief good: the end of which consummation is to excel in the kingdom of Christ, which hath no end; and there to have without death, without pain, and with great honour, …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 8 (1888)
"For a word is a better thing than a gift," and "answer the poor man peaceably with meekness." And all the rest of thy time too adorn it with the rehearsing of the laws of God; "Yea, let all thy communication be in the law of the Most High." Having thus adorned ourselves, let us come to our King, and …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)
Let not thine hand be only stretched out to receive, but let it be also ready to work.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)