Old Testament · Deuterocanon

Sirach 7

Practical Wisdom for Every Relationship

11 passages

Overview

Ben Sira moves through the full range of daily life — warning against ambition and sin, urging honest labor, humility, and fear of God, commanding charity toward the poor, the dead, and the grieving, insisting on fidelity in friendship, marriage, and household, demanding honor of parents and priests, condemning false worship and disordered speech, and anchoring all these duties in the sustained remembrance of eternity and final judgment.

Passages

1–3Sow Not in Darkness: The Principle of Moral Reciprocity 4–7The Snare of Ambition: On Seeking Honor Rightly 8–10Don't Presume: On Sin, Worship, and the Duty of Almsgiving 11–14The Tongue Under Judgment: Honest and Charitable Speech 15–17Dust, Toil, and Trembling: The School of Humility 18–21Fidelity in Friendship and Justice Toward Servants 22–26Stewards of the Household: Cattle, Children, and Wife 27–28Honor Due to Parents 29–31Fear of God and Honor of the Priesthood 32–35The Outstretched Hand: Charity Toward the Poor, the Dead, and the Suffering 36Remember Eternity, and You Will Never Sin

Study Resources

Sirach 7

¹Do no evil, so no evil will overtake you. ²Depart from wrong, and it will turn away from you. ³My son, don’t sow upon the furrows of unrighteousness, and you won’t reap them sevenfold. ⁴Don’t seek preeminence from the Lord, nor the seat of honor from the king. ⁵Don’t justify yourself in the presence of the Lord, and don’t display your wisdom before the king. ⁶Don’t seek to be a judge, lest you not be able to take away iniquities, lest perhaps you fear the person of a mighty man, and lay a stumbling block in the way of your uprightness. ⁷Don’t sin against the multitude of the city. Don’t disgrace yourself in the crowd. ⁸Don’t commit a sin twice, for even in one you will not be unpunished. ⁹Don’t say, “He will look upon the multitude of my gifts. When I make an offering to the Most High God, he will accept it.” ¹⁰Don’t be faint-hearted in your prayer. Don’t neglect to give alms. ¹¹Don’t laugh a man to scorn when he is in the bitterness of his soul, for there is one who humbles and exalts. ¹²Don’t devise a lie against your brother, or do the same to a friend. ¹³Refuse to utter a lie, for that habit results in no good. ¹⁴Don’t babble in the assembly of elders. Don’t repeat your words in your prayer. ¹⁵Don’t hate hard labor or farm work, which the Most High has created. ¹⁶Don’t number yourself among the multitude of sinners. Remember that wrath will not wait. ¹⁷Humble your soul greatly, for the punishment of the ungodly man is fire and the worm. ¹⁸Don’t exchange a friend for something, neither a true brother for the gold of Ophir. ¹⁹Don’t deprive yourself of a wise and good wife, for her grace is worth more than gold. ²⁰Don’t abuse a servant who works faithfully, or a hireling who gives you his life. ²¹Let your soul love a wise servant. Don’t defraud him of liberty. ²²Do you have cattle? Look after them. If they are profitable to you, let them stay by you. ²³Do you have children? Correct them, and make them obedient from their youth. ²⁴Do you have daughters? Take care of their bodies, and don’t be overly indulgent toward them. ²⁵Give your daughter in marriage, and you will have accomplished a great matter. Give her to a man of understanding. ²⁶Do you have a wife who pleases you? Don’t cast her out. But don’t trust yourself to one who is hateful. ²⁷Honor your father with your whole heart, and don’t forget the birth pangs of your mother. ²⁸Remember that you were born of them. What will you repay them for the things that they have done for you? ²⁹Fear the Lord with all your soul; and revere his priests. ³⁰With all your strength love him who made you. Don’t forsake his ministers. ³¹Fear the Lord and honor the priest. Give him his portion, even as it is commanded you: the first fruits, the trespass offering, the gift of the shoulders, the sacrifice of sanctification, and the first fruits of holy things. ³²Also stretch out your hand to the poor man, that your blessing may be complete. ³³A gift has grace in the sight of every living man. Don’t withhold grace for a dead man. ³⁴Don’t avoid those who weep, and mourn with those who mourn. ³⁵Don’t be slow to visit a sick man, for by such things you will gain love. ³⁶In all your words, remember eternity, and you will never sin.

Sirach 6 Sirach 8