Catholic Evangelization Training Center
Training in the NEW Evangelization
Sirach Chapter 41-44
1 O death, how bitter is the reminder of you to one who lives at peace among his possessions, to a man without distractions, who is prosperous in everything, and who still has the vigor to enjoy his food!
2 O death, how welcome is your sentence to one who is in need and is failing in strength, very old and distracted over everything; to one who is contrary, and has lost his patience!
3 Do not fear the sentence of death; remember your former days and the end of life; this is the decree from the Lord for all flesh,
4 and how can you reject the good pleasure of the Most High? Whether life is for ten or a hundred or a thousand years, there is no inquiry about it in Hades.
5 The children of sinners are abominable children, and they frequent the haunts of the ungodly.
6 The inheritance of the children of sinners will perish, and on their posterity will be a perpetual reproach.
7 Children will blame an ungodly father, for they suffer reproach because of him.
8 Woe to you, ungodly men, who have forsaken the law of the Most High God!
9 When you are born, you are born to a curse; and when you die, a curse is your lot.
10 Whatever is from the dust returns to dust; so the ungodly go from curse to destruction.
11 The mourning of men is about their bodies, but the evil name of sinners will be blotted out.
12 Have regard for your name, since it will remain for you longer than a thousand great stores of gold.
13 The days of a good life are numbered, but a good name endures for ever.
14 My children, observe instruction and be at peace; hidden wisdom and unseen treasure, what advantage is there in either of them?
15 Better is the man who hides his folly than the man who hides his wisdom.
16 Therefore show respect for my words: For it is good to retain every kind of shame, and not everything is confidently esteemed by every one.
17 Be ashamed of immorality, before your father or mother; and of a lie, before a prince or a ruler;
18 of a transgression, before a judge or magistrate; and of iniquity, before a congregation or the people; of unjust dealing, before your partner or friend;
19 and of theft, in the place where you live. Be ashamed before the truth of God and his covenant. Be ashamed of selfish behavior at meals, of surliness in receiving and giving,
20 and of silence, before those who greet you; of looking at a woman who is a harlot,
21 and of rejecting the appeal of a kinsman; of taking away some one's portion or gift, and of gazing at another man's wife;
22 of meddling with his maidservant -- and do not approach her bed; of abusive words, before friends -- and do not upbraid after making a gift;
23 of repeating and telling what you hear, and of revealing secrets. Then you will show proper shame, and will find favor with every man.
Chapter: 42
1 Of the following things do not be ashamed, and do not let partiality lead you to sin:
2 of the law of the Most High and his covenant, and of rendering judgment to acquit the ungodly;
3 of keeping accounts with a partner or with traveling companions, and of dividing the inheritance of friends;
4 of accuracy with scales and weights, and of acquiring much or little;
5 of profit from dealing with merchants, and of much discipline of children, and of whipping a wicked servant severely.
6 Where there is an evil wife, a seal is a good thing; and where there are many hands, lock things up.
7 Whatever you deal out, let it be by number and weight, and make a record of all that you give out or take in.
8 Do not be ashamed to instruct the stupid or foolish or the aged man who quarrels with the young. Then you will be truly instructed, and will be approved before all men.
9 A daughter keeps her father secretly wakeful, and worry over her robs him of sleep; when she is young, lest she do not marry, or if married, lest she be hated;
10 while a virgin, lest she be defiled or become pregnant in her father's house; or having a husband, lest she prove unfaithful, or, though married, lest she be barren.
11 Keep strict watch over a headstrong daughter, lest she make you a laughingstock to your enemies, a byword in the city and notorious among the people, and put you to shame before the great multitude.
12 Do not look upon any one for beauty, and do not sit in the midst of women;
13 for from garments comes the moth, and from a woman comes woman's wickedness.
14 Better is the wickedness of a man than a woman who does good; and it is a woman who brings shame and disgrace.
15 I will now call to mind the works of the Lord, and will declare what I have seen. By the words of the Lord his works are done.
16 The sun looks down on everything with its light, and the work of the Lord is full of his glory.
17 The Lord has not enabled his holy ones to recount all his marvelous works, which the Lord the Almighty has established that the universe may stand firm in his glory.
18 He searches out the abyss, and the hearts of men, and considers their crafty devices. For the Most High knows all that may be known, and he looks into the signs of the age.
19 He declares what has been and what is to be, and he reveals the tracks of hidden things.
20 No thought escapes him, and not one word is hidden from him.
21 He has ordained the splendors of his wisdom, and he is from everlasting and to everlasting. Nothing can be added or taken away, and he needs no one to be his counselor.
22 How greatly to be desired are all his works, and how sparkling they are to see!
23 All these things live and remain for ever for every need, and are all obedient.
24 All things are twofold, one opposite the other, and he has made nothing incomplete.
25 One confirms the good things of the other, and who can have enough of beholding his glory?
Chapter: 43
1 The pride of the heavenly heights is the clear firmament, the appearance of heaven in a spectacle of glory.
2 The sun, when it appears, making proclamation as it goes forth, is a marvelous instrument, the work of the Most High.
3 At noon it parches the land; and who can withstand its burning heat?
4 A man tending a furnace works in burning heat, but the sun burns the mountains three times as much; it breathes out fiery vapors, and with bright beams it blinds the eyes.
5 Great is the Lord who made it; and at his command it hastens on its course.
6 He made the moon also, to serve in its season to mark the times and to be an everlasting sign.
7 From the moon comes the sign for feast days, a light that wanes when it has reached the full.
8 The month is named for the moon, increasing marvelously in its phases, an instrument of the hosts on high shining forth in the firmament of heaven.
9 The glory of the stars is the beauty of heaven, a gleaming array in the heights of the Lord.
10 At the command of the Holy One they stand as ordered, they never relax in their watches.
11 Look upon the rainbow, and praise him who made it, exceedingly beautiful in its brightness.
12 It encircles the heaven with its glorious arc; the hands of the Most High have stretched it out.
13 By his command he sends the driving snow and speeds the lightnings of his judgment.
14 Therefore the storehouses are opened, and the clouds fly forth like birds.
15 In his majesty he amasses the clouds, and the hailstones are broken in pieces.
16 At his appearing the mountains are shaken; at his will the south wind blows.
17 The voice of his thunder rebukes the earth; so do the tempest from the north and the whirlwind. He scatters the snow like birds flying down, and its descent is like locusts alighting.
18 The eye marvels at the beauty of its whiteness, and the mind is amazed at its falling.
19 He pours the hoarfrost upon the earth like salt, and when it freezes, it becomes pointed thorns.
20 The cold north wind blows, and ice freezes over the water; it rests upon every pool of water, and the water puts it on like a breastplate.
21 He consumes the mountains and burns up the wilderness, and withers the tender grass like fire.
22 A mist quickly heals all things; when the dew appears, it refreshes from the heat.
23 By his counsel he stilled the great deep and planted islands in it.
24 Those who sail the sea tell of its dangers, and we marvel at what we hear.
25 for in it are strange and marvelous works, all kinds of living things, and huge creatures of the sea.
26 Because of him his messenger finds the way, and by his word all things hold together.
27 Though we speak much we cannot reach the end, and the sum of our words is: "He is the all."
28 Where shall we find strength to praise him? For he is greater than all his works.
29 Terrible is the Lord and very great, and marvelous is his power.
30 When you praise the Lord, exalt him as much as you can; for he will surpass even that. When you exalt him, put forth all your strength, and do not grow weary, for you cannot praise him enough.
31 Who has seen him and can describe him? Or who can extol him as he is?
32 Many things greater than these lie hidden, for we have seen but few of his works.
33 For the Lord has made all things, and to the godly he has granted wisdom.
Chapter: 44
1 Let us now praise famous men, and our fathers in their generations.
2 The Lord apportioned to them great glory, his majesty from the beginning.
3 There were those who ruled in their kingdoms, and were men renowned for their power, giving counsel by their understanding, and proclaiming prophecies;
4 leaders of the people in their deliberations and in understanding of learning for the people, wise in their words of instruction;
5 those who composed musical tunes, and set forth verses in writing;
6 rich men furnished with resources, living peaceably in their habitations --
7 all these were honored in their generations, and were the glory of their times.
8 There are some of them who have left a name, so that men declare their praise.
9 And there are some who have no memorial, who have perished as though they had not lived; they have become as though they had not been born, and so have their children after them.
10 But these were men of mercy, whose righteous deeds have not been forgotten;
11 their prosperity will remain with their descendants, and their inheritance to their children's children.
12 Their descendants stand by the covenants; their children also, for their sake.
13 Their posterity will continue for ever, and their glory will not be blotted out.
14 Their bodies were buried in peace, and their name lives to all generations.
15 Peoples will declare their wisdom, and the congregation proclaims their praise.
16 Enoch pleased the Lord, and was taken up; he was an example of repentance to all generations.
17 Noah was found perfect and righteous; in the time of wrath he was taken in exchange; therefore a remnant was left to the earth when the flood came.
18 Everlasting covenants were made with him that all flesh should not be blotted out by a flood.
19 Abraham was the great father of a multitude of nations, and no one has been found like him in glory;
20 he kept the law of the Most High, and was taken into covenant with him; he established the covenant in his flesh, and when he was tested he was found faithful.
21 Therefore the Lord assured him by an oath that the nations would be blessed through his posterity; that he would multiply him like the dust of the earth, and exalt his posterity like the stars, and cause them to inherit from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.
22 To Isaac also he gave the same assurance for the sake of Abraham his father.
23 The blessing of all men and the covenant he made to rest upon the head of Jacob; he acknowledged him with his blessings, and gave him his inheritance; he determined his portions, and distributed them among twelve tribes.