Sirach 6 - Common English Bible (CEB)

6 Don’t become an enemy
instead of a friend.
If you get a bad name, you will also inherit shame and reproach,
as is the case with the
deceitful^[a] sinner.

² Don’t be enamored
of your own intelligence
lest your strength be taken captive
like a bull.
³ You will devour your leaves,
destroy your fruit,
and leave yourself like a withered tree.
⁴ If you have a bad soul, it will destroy you;
it will make you a joke to your enemies.

Friendship

⁵ Pleasant speech gains more friends for itself,
and a sweet-speaking tongue
will multiply pleasant exchanges.
Let those who are at peace with you
be many,
but let only one in a thousand
be your advisor.
⁷ If you make friends, test them thoroughly
and don’t trust them quickly.
⁸ Some are friends when it is convenient,
but they won’t stay around
during hard times.
⁹ There are friends who turn into enemies,
and they will reveal
your disgraceful arguments.
¹⁰ There are friends who are companions
at your table,
but they won’t stay during hard times.
¹¹ They will act as if your belongings
are theirs,
and they will be bold
toward your household slaves.
¹² If you are brought low,
they will be against you,
and they will abandon you.
¹³ Stay away from your enemies,
and be careful with your friends.
¹⁴ Trustworthy friends are a strong shelter;
whoever finds one
has found a treasure.
¹⁵ Trustworthy friends have no price,
and no one can estimate their worth.
¹⁶ Trustworthy friends are life’s medicine,
and those who fear the Lord
will find them.
¹⁷ Those who fear the Lord
will direct their friendships well,
because they will associate with people
of like mind.^[b]

Submission to Wisdom

¹⁸ My child, from your youth
welcome education, and you will continue to discover Wisdom
until you are gray-haired.
¹⁹ Approach her like one who plows
and one who sows,
and wait for her good fruits.
When cultivating her,
you will labor a little,
but you will eat her produce soon.
²⁰ Wisdom is rugged terrain
to the uneducated,
and the fainthearted
won’t persevere with her.
²¹ She will be like a heavy stone
that tests them,
and they won’t hesitate
to throw her aside.
²² Wisdom is like her name,
and she won’t be visible to many.

²³ Listen, my child,
and welcome my opinion.
Don’t reject my advice.
²⁴ Put your feet into her shackles
and your neck into her collar.
²⁵ Bend your shoulder down and carry her,
and don’t chafe at her bonds.
²⁶ Come to her with your whole being,
and keep to her ways
with all your strength.
²⁷ Track her down and seek her,
and she will become known to you.
When you get possession of her,
don’t let her go.
²⁸ In the end, you will find rest in her,
and she will turn to you
and make you happy.
²⁹ Her shackles will be
a strong shelter for you,
and her collar will be a glorious robe.
³⁰ She bears^[c]
a gold ornament,
and her bonds
will be like blue embroidery.^[d]
31 You will wear her like a glorious robe,
and you will put her on
like a crown of joy.
³² If you want, my child,
you will be instructed,
and if you devote your whole being,
you will be intelligent.
³³ If you love to listen, you will receive,
and if you pay attention,
you will be wise.
³⁴ Keep company with the elders,
and stick closely to their wisdom.
³⁵ Desire to listen
to every godly conversation,
and don’t let intelligent proverbs escape you.
³⁶ If you find individuals who are intelligent,
get up before dawn to see those people,
and let your foot
wear out their doorsteps.
³⁷ Think about the Lord’s decrees,
and meditate constantly
on his commandments.
He will make your heart steadfast,
and will grant your desire for wisdom.

Footnotes

1. Sirach 6:1 LXX double-tongued
2. Sirach 6:17 LXX because as they are, so are their neighbors
3. Sirach 6:30 Or her yoke is
4. Sirach 6:30 LXX thread