42 of repeating gossip;
and of revealing secrets—
then you will be truly modest
and find favor with every human being.
Don’t be ashamed of these things,
and don’t show favoritism
so that you sin.
2 Don’t be ashamed:
of the Law of the Most High
or the covenant,
of a just verdict
in favor of an ungodly person,
3 of keeping a record of expenses with a partner or a traveling companion,
of distributing an inheritance
to others,
4 of accuracy with scales and weights,
of acquiring a lot or a little,
5 of profit from business with merchants,
of frequent discipline of children,
and of whipping wicked
household slaves until they bleed.
6 In the case of a wicked wife,
using your seal on your documents and supplies is an excellent idea,
and lock up things
anywhere there are lots of hands.
7 Whatever you deposit,
whether by number and weight,
and whatever you give or receive,
put everything in writing.
8 Don’t be ashamed of discipline
for the stupid and foolish
and for the old codger
who is guilty of sexual immorality.
Then you will have been truly educated
and approved by everyone alive.
On daughters
9 A daughter is a hidden source
of sleeplessness for her father,
and anxiety about her deprives him
of sleep:
in her youth, that she doesn’t pass
her prime,
and when she’s married,
that she not be hated;
10 while she’s a virgin,
that she not be seduced
and become pregnant
while still living at home;
when she’s married,
that she not go straying;
or having married,
that she not be infertile.
11 Keep a strict watch over
an unruly daughter
so that she doesn’t make you
an object of ridicule to your enemies,
a topic of talk in the city
and the assembly of the people,
and she shame you before the crowd.
12 Don’t consider the beauty
of any person,
and don’t spend time among women.
13 Moths come out of clothes,
and a woman’s wickedness
comes from a woman.
14 A man’s wickedness
is better than a woman who does good
and a disgraced woman
who brings shame.
God’s created order
15 Now I’ll call to mind the works
of the Lord,
and I’ll tell about what I’ve seen.
The Lord’s works came into being
by his words.
16 The shining sun looked down
on everything,
and the Lord’s work is radiant
with his glory.
17 The Lord has not allowed his holy ones
to describe all of his wonders,
which the Lord Almighty established
so that the universe would stand firm
in his glory.
18 He has searched the abyss and the heart,
and he took their great achievements
into consideration,
because the Most High
knew everything to be known.
He saw the sign of the age,
19 explaining what has passed
and what will be,
and revealing the clues to things
that are hidden.
20 No thought escaped him,
and not a single word
was hidden from him.
21 He ordered the splendors of his wisdom.
He remains the same
from the beginning of time
all the way to eternity.
Nothing can be added to him
nor be taken away,
and he needed no one to give him advice.
22 How desirable are all of his works,
and how brilliant they are to look upon.
23 All these things live and remain forever
in every circumstance,
and everything obeys him.
24 All things exist in pairs,
one opposite the other,
and he made nothing that
was incomplete.
25 Each thing strengthens the good parts
of the other;
who can get enough of seeing
God’s glory?
Footnotes
- Sirach 42:6
- Sirach 42:12
- Sirach 42:15
- Sirach 42:18
- Sirach 42:21
- Sirach 42:23
