Catholic Evangelization Training Center
Training in the NEW Evangelization
Sirach Chapter 23-25
1 O Lord, Father and Ruler of my life, do not abandon me to their counsel, and let me not fall because of them!
2 O that whips were set over my thoughts, and the discipline of wisdom over my mind! That they may not spare me in my errors, and that it may not pass by my sins;
3 in order that my mistakes may not be multiplied, and my sins may not abound; then I will not fall before my adversaries, and my enemy will not rejoice over me.
4 O Lord, Father and God of my life, do not give me haughty eyes,
5 and remove from me evil desire.
6 Let neither gluttony nor lust overcome me, and do not surrender me to a shameless soul.
7 Listen, my children, to instruction concerning speech; the one who observes it will never be caught.
8 The sinner is overtaken through his lips, the reviler and the arrogant are tripped by them.
9 Do not accustom your mouth to oaths, and do not habitually utter the name of the Holy One;
10 for as a servant who is continually examined under torture will not lack bruises, so also the man who always swears and utters the Name will not be cleansed from sin.
11 A man who swears many oaths will be filled with iniquity, and the scourge will not leave his house; if he offends, his sin remains on him, and if he disregards it, he sins doubly; if he has sworn needlessly, he will not be justified, for his house will be filled with calamities.
12 There is an utterance which is comparable to death; may it never be found in the inheritance of Jacob! For all these errors will be far from the godly, and they will not wallow in sins.
13 Do not accustom your mouth to lewd vulgarity, for it involves sinful speech.
14 Remember your father and mother when you sit among great men; lest you be forgetful in their presence, and be deemed a fool on account of your habits; then you will wish that you had never been born, and you will curse the day of your birth.
15 A man accustomed to use insulting words will never become disciplined all his days.
16 Two sorts of men multiply sins, and a third incurs wrath. The soul heated like a burning fire will not be quenched until it is consumed; a man who commits fornication with his near of kin will never cease until the fire burns him up.
17 To a fornicator all bread tastes sweet; he will never cease until he dies.
18 A man who breaks his marriage vows says to himself, "Who sees me? Darkness surrounds me, and the walls hide me, and no one sees me. Why should I fear? The Most High will not take notice of my sins."
19 His fear is confined to the eyes of men, and he does not realize that the eyes of the Lord are ten thousand times brighter than the sun; they look upon all the ways of men, and perceive even the hidden places.
20 Before the universe was created, it was known to him; so it was also after it was finished.
21 This man will be punished in the streets of the city, and where he least suspects it, he will be seized.
22 So it is with a woman who leaves her husband and provides an heir by a stranger.
23 For first of all, she has disobeyed the law of the Most High; second, she has committed an offense against her husband; and third, she has committed adultery through harlotry and brought forth children by another man.
24 She herself will be brought before the assembly, and punishment will fall on her children.
25 Her children will not take root, and her branches will not bear fruit.
26 She will leave her memory for a curse, and her disgrace will not be blotted out.
27 Those who survive her will recognize that nothing is better than the fear of the Lord, and nothing sweeter than to heed the commandments of the Lord.
Chapter: 24
1 Wisdom will praise herself, and will glory in the midst of her people.
2 In the assembly of the Most High she will open her mouth, and in the presence of his host she will glory:
3 "I came forth from the mouth of the Most High, and covered the earth like a mist.
4 I dwelt in high places, and my throne was in a pillar of cloud.
5 Alone I have made the circuit of the vault of heaven and have walked in the depths of the abyss.
6 In the waves of the sea, in the whole earth, and in every people and nation I have gotten a possession.
7 Among all these I sought a resting place; I sought in whose territory I might lodge.
8 "Then the Creator of all things gave me a commandment, and the one who created me assigned a place for my tent. And he said, `Make your dwelling in Jacob, and in Israel receive your inheritance.'
9 From eternity, in the beginning, he created me, and for eternity I shall not cease to exist.
10 In the holy tabernacle I ministered before him, and so I was established in Zion.
11 In the beloved city likewise he gave me a resting place, and in Jerusalem was my dominion.
12 So I took root in an honored people, in the portion of the Lord, who is their inheritance.
13 "I grew tall like a cedar in Lebanon, and like a cypress on the heights of Hermon.
14 I grew tall like a palm tree in En-ge'di, and like rose plants in Jericho; like a beautiful olive tree in the field, and like a plane tree I grew tall.
15 Like cassia and camel's thorn I gave forth the aroma of spices, and like choice myrrh I spread a pleasant odor, like galbanum, onycha, and stacte, and like the fragrance of frankincense in the tabernacle.
16 Like a terebinth I spread out my branches, and my branches are glorious and graceful.
17 Like a vine I caused loveliness to bud, and my blossoms became glorious and abundant fruit.
19 "Come to me, you who desire me, and eat your fill of my produce.
20 For the remembrance of me is sweeter than honey, and my inheritance sweeter than the honeycomb.
21 Those who eat me will hunger for more, and those who drink me will thirst for more.
22 Whoever obeys me will not be put to shame, and those who work with my help will not sin."
23 All this is the book of the covenant of the Most High God, the law which Moses commanded us as an inheritance for the congregations of Jacob.
25 It fills men with wisdom, like the Pishon, and like the Tigris at the time of the first fruits.
26 It makes them full of understanding, like the Euphrates, and like the Jordan at harvest time.
27 It makes instruction shine forth like light, like the Gihon at the time of vintage.
28 Just as the first man did not know her perfectly, the last one has not fathomed her;
29 for her thought is more abundant than the sea, and her counsel deeper than the great abyss.
30 I went forth like a canal from a river and like a water channel into a garden.
31 I said, "I will water my orchard and drench my garden plot"; and lo, my canal became a river, and my river became a sea.
32 I will again make instruction shine forth like the dawn, and I will make it shine afar;
33 I will again pour out teaching like prophecy, and leave it to all future generations.
34 Observe that I have not labored for myself alone, but for all who seek instruction.
Chapter: 25
1 My soul takes pleasure in three things, and they are beautiful in the sight of the Lord and of men; agreement between brothers, friendship between neighbors, and a wife and a husband who live in harmony.
2 My soul hates three kinds of men, and I am greatly offended at their life: a beggar who is proud, a rich man who is a liar, and an adulterous old man who lacks good sense.
3 You have gathered nothing in your youth; how then can you find anything in your old age?
4 What an attractive thing is judgment in gray-haired men, and for the aged to possess good counsel!
5 How attractive is wisdom in the aged, and understanding and counsel in honorable men!
6 Rich experience is the crown of the aged, and their boast is the fear of the Lord.
7 With nine thoughts I have gladdened my heart, and a tenth I shall tell with my tongue: a man rejoicing in his children; a man who lives to see the downfall of his foes;
8 happy is he who lives with an intelligent wife, and he who has not made a slip with his tongue, and he who has not served a man inferior to himself;
9 happy is he who has gained good sense, and he who speaks to attentive listeners.
10 How great is he who has gained wisdom! But there is no one superior to him who fears the Lord.
11 The fear of the Lord surpasses everything; to whom shall be likened the one who holds it fast?
13 Any wound, but not a wound of the heart! Any wickedness, but not the wickedness of a wife!
14 Any attack, but not an attack from those who hate! And any vengeance, but not the vengeance of enemies!
15 There is no venom worse than a snake's venom, and no wrath worse than an enemy's wrath.
16 I would rather dwell with a lion and a dragon than dwell with an evil wife.
17 The wickedness of a wife changes her appearance, and darkens her face like that of a bear.
18 Her husband takes his meals among the neighbors, and he cannot help sighing bitterly.
19 Any iniquity is insignificant compared to a wife's iniquity; may a sinner's lot befall her!
20 A sandy ascent for the feet of the aged -- such is a garrulous wife for a quiet husband.
21 Do not be ensnared by a woman's beauty, and do not desire a woman for her possessions.
22 There is wrath and impudence and great disgrace when a wife supports her husband.
23 A dejected mind, a gloomy face, and a wounded heart are caused by an evil wife. Drooping hands and weak knees are caused by the wife who does not make her husband happy.
24 From a woman sin had its beginning, and because of her we all die.
25 Allow no outlet to water, and no boldness of speech in an evil wife.
26 If she does not go as you direct, separate her from yourself.