Sirach 7 - Common English Bible (CEB)

Practical advice

7 Don’t do evil things,
and evil will never catch up with you.
² Keep your distance from anything unjust, and it will turn away from you.
³ Don’t sow in furrows of injustice,
and you won’t reap
evil things sevenfold.
⁴ Don’t seek political power from the Lord
or a seat of honor from the king.
⁵ Don’t justify yourself
in the Lord’s presence,
and don’t make a show of your wisdom
with a king.
⁶ Don’t aspire to become a judge;
you might not be strong enough
to get rid of injustice.
Perhaps you will be too cautious
in the presence of a powerful person
and bring a scandal on your good name.
⁷ Don’t sin against a city’s inhabitants,
and don’t bring yourself down
in their estimation.^[a]

⁸ Don’t repeat a sin,
for you won’t be innocent
even of committing it the first time.
⁹ Don’t say,
“He will look at the heap of my gifts,
and when I make an offering
to the Most High, he will accept it.”
¹⁰ Don’t be timid in your prayer,
and don’t neglect caring for those in need.
¹¹ Don’t mock a person
who is bitter in spirit;
for there’s one who humbles
and who exalts.
¹² Don’t cultivate a lie against your relative
or do the same thing to a friend.
¹³ Don’t desire to tell a lie;
continuing in a lie results in no good.
¹⁴ Don’t babble when the elders
are assembled,
and don’t repeat yourself when praying.

¹⁵ Don’t hate hard work and farming,
which were created by the Most High.
¹⁶ Don’t count yourself
among a group of sinners;
remember that God’s anger won’t delay.
¹⁷ Humble your whole being
as much as possible,
because fire and worms
are the punishment of the ungodly.

Household, priests, and the poor

¹⁸ Don’t trade a friend for cash
or a genuine friend for the gold of Ophir.
¹⁹ Don’t neglect^[b] a wise and good wife,
for her grace is worth more than gold.
²⁰ Don’t abuse household slaves
who work hard
or laborers who devote themselves
to their work.
²¹ Cherish household servants
who are intelligent;
don’t deprive them of freedom.

²² Do you have cattle? Look after them.
If they are useful to you, keep them.
²³ Do you have children? Instruct them.
Train them to be obedient^[c]
from their youth.
²⁴ Do you have daughters?
Be attentive to their chastity,^[d]
and don’t be too cheerful with them.^[e]
25 Give a daughter in marriage,
and you will have completed a great deed,
but present her
to an understanding husband.
²⁶ Do you have a wife who is a soul mate?^[f]
Don’t divorce her,
and don’t trust yourself to a woman
whom you hate.

²⁷ Honor your father with all your heart,
and don’t forget
your mother’s labor pains.
²⁸ Remember that you were born
because of your parents.
How will you pay them back
for what they have done for you?

²⁹ Revere the Lord with your whole being,
and honor his priests.
³⁰ With all your might
love the one who made you,
and don’t neglect his ministers.
³¹ Fear the Lord and honor the priest.
Give the priest his portion,
just as you were commanded:
early produce, a sin offering,
the gift of the shoulders,
the dedicatory offering,
and the early produce
from the holy things.

³² Extend your hand to the poor
so that your blessing may be complete.
³³ The kindness of a gift
stands before all who are alive;
moreover, don’t withhold kindness
from the dead.
³⁴ Walk beside those who weep,
and mourn with those who mourn.
³⁵ Don’t hesitate to visit the sick,
because you will be loved
on account of these acts.
³⁶ In all of your words,^[g]
remember your end,
and you will never sin.

Footnotes

1. Sirach 7:7 LXX in a crowd
2. Sirach 7:19 Or reject
3. Sirach 7:23 LXX Bend their necks
4. Sirach 7:24 LXX body
5. Sirach 7:24 LXX Don’t brighten your face toward them.
6. Sirach 7:26 LXX like your soul; Heb whom you abhor
7. Sirach 7:36 Heb deeds