Duties to Parents
3 Children, listen to me; I am your father. Do what I tell you and you will be safe, 2 for the Lord has given fathers authority over their children and given children the obligation to obey their mothers. 3 If you respect your father, you can make up for your sins, 4 and if you honor your mother, you are earning great wealth. 5 If you respect your father, one day your own children will make you happy; the Lord will hear your prayers. 6 If you obey the Lord by honoring your father and making your mother happy, you will live a long life. 7 Obey your parents as if you were their slave. 8 (A)Honor your father in everything you do and say, so that you may receive his blessing. 9 When parents give their blessing, they give strength to their children's homes, but when they curse their children, they destroy the very foundations.
10 Never seek honor for yourself at your father's expense; it is not to your credit if he is dishonored. 11 Your own honor comes from the respect that you show to your father. If children do not honor their mothers, it is their own disgrace. 12 My child, take care of your father when he grows old; give him no cause for worry as long as he lives. 13 Be sympathetic even if his mind fails him; don't look down on him just because you are strong and healthy. 14 The Lord will not forget the kindness you show to your father; it will help you make up for your sins. 15 When you are in trouble, the Lord will remember your kindness and will help you; your sins will melt away like frost in warm sunshine. 16 Those who abandon their parents or give them cause for anger may as well be cursing the Lord; they are already under the Lord's curse.
Humility
17 My child, be humble in everything you do, and people will appreciate it more than gifts.[a] 18 (B)The greater you become, the more humble you should be; then the Lord will be pleased with you.[b] 20 The Lord's power is great, and he is honored by those who are humble. 21 Don't try to understand things that are too hard for you, or investigate matters that are beyond your power to know. 22 (C)Concentrate on the Law, which has been given to you. You do not need to know about things which the Lord has not revealed, 23 so don't concern yourself with them. After all, what has been shown to you is beyond human power to understand. 24 Many people have been misled by their own opinions; their wrong ideas have warped their judgment.[c]
26 Stubbornness will get you into trouble at the end. If you live dangerously, it will kill you. 27 A stubborn person will be burdened down with troubles. Sinners go on adding one sin to another. 28 There is no cure for the troubles that arrogant people have; wickedness has taken deep root in them. 29 Intelligent people will learn from proverbs and parables. They listen well because they want to learn.
Giving to the Poor
30 Giving to the poor can make up for sin, just as water can put out a blazing fire. 31 Anyone who responds to others with acts of kindness is thinking of the future, because he will find help if he ever falls on hard times.
Footnotes
- Sirach 3:17 Hebrew people...gifts; Greek those whom the Lord approves will love you.
- Sirach 3:18 Some Greek manuscripts add verse 19: Many are exalted and esteemed, but God's secrets are revealed to the humble; Hebrew: God's mercy is great, and he reveals his secrets to those who are humble.
- Sirach 3:24 Some Greek manuscripts add verse 25: If you have no eyes, you cannot see; don't claim to have knowledge if you don't have it; Hebrew has, after verse 27: If you have no eyes, you cannot see; if you have no knowledge, you cannot have Wisdom.