1 He that feareth the Lord will do this; And he that hath possession of the law shall obtain her. 2 And as a mother shall she meet him, And receive him as a wife married in her virginity. 3 With bread of understanding shall she feed him, And give him 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 And she shall exalt him above his neighbours; And in the midst of the congregation shall she open his mouth. 6 He shall inherit joy, and a crown of gladness, And an everlasting name. 7 Foolish men shall not obtain her; And sinners shall not see her. 8 She is far from pride; And liars shall not remember her. 9 Praise is not comely in the mouth of a sinner; For it was not sent him from the Lord. 10 For praise shall be spoken in wisdom; And the Lord will prosper it. 11 Say not thou, It is through the Lord that I fell away; For thou shalt not do the things that he hateth. 12 Say not thou, It is he that caused me to err; For he hath no need of a sinful man. 13 The Lord hateth every abomination; And they that fear him love it not. 14 He himself made man from the beginning, And left him in the hand of his own counsel. 15 If thou wilt, thou shalt keep the commandments; And to perform faithfulness is of [thine own ] good pleasure. 16 He hath set fire and water before thee: Thou shalt stretch forth thy hand unto whichsoever thou wilt. 17 Before man is life and death; And whichsoever he liketh, it shall be given him. 18 For great is the wisdom of the Lord: He is mighty in power, and beholdeth all things; 19 And his eyes are upon them that fear him; And he will take knowledge of every work of man. 20 He hath not commanded any man to be ungodly; And he hath not given any man licence to sin.
Sirach · Revised Version with Apocrypha
Sirach 15 Revised Version with Apocrypha
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)