Wisdom of Ben Sira 33:16-36:13
New Catholic Bible
16 Now I was the last to keep vigil;
I was like a gleaner following the grape pickers,
17 and by the blessing of the Lord I arrived early enough
to fill my winepress as completely as any of them.
18 And please note that I have not labored for myself alone
but for all who seek instruction.
The Testament of a Teacher of Wisdom[a]
The Heritage of the Teacher
Remain Master in All Things[b]
19 Listen to me, you who hold high positions among the people!
You leaders of the assembly, pay heed to what I have to say!
20 Neither to son or wife, nor to brother or friend,
give power over yourself as long as you live.
And do not give your property to another,
in case you change your mind and want it back.
21 As long as you are alive and have breath within you,
do not yield authority over yourself to anyone.
22 It is far better for your children to beg for your help
than for you to have recourse to their handouts.
23 Be in control in everything that you do,
and allow no stain to tarnish your reputation.
24 Only on the day that your life draws to a close,
at the hour of death, should you distribute your inheritance.
How To Treat Slaves[c]
25 To a donkey belong fodder, the stick, and burdens;
to slaves belong bread, discipline, and work.
26 If you work your slave hard, you will have rest for yourself;
if you allow his hands to be idle, he will seek his freedom.
27 Yoke and harness will bow the neck of an ox;
for a wicked slave, apply the rack and torture.
28 Put him to work so that he will not be idle,
29 for idleness is a superb teacher of mischief.
30 Put him to work, for that is his purpose in life;
and if he does not obey, burden him with fetters.
However, do not be overbearing toward anyone,
and do nothing contrary to justice.
31 If you have only one slave, treat him like yourself,
for you have acquired him with blood.
If you have only one slave, treat him as a brother,
since you will need him as much as you need yourself.
32 If you ill-treat him and he runs away,
33 where will you go to look for him?
Chapter 34
How To Judge Dreams[d]
1 Vain and false are the hopes of the senseless,
and dreams offer wings to a fool.
2 Like one who clutches at shadows or chases the wind
is someone who pays heed to dreams.
3 What you see in dreams is simply an image,
the reflection of a face in a mirror.
4 From something unclean what can be clean?
From something false what can be true?
5 Divinations, omens, and dreams are all unreal;
the mind portrays what you already expect.
6 Unless they are sent through the intervention of the Most High,
pay no attention to them.
7 For dreams have led many astray,
and those who have placed their hopes in them have been greatly disappointed.
8 Without such deceptions the law is fulfilled,
and wisdom is perfected in the mouth of the faithful.[e]
Travel Is Instructive
9 Someone who is well traveled[f] knows many things,
and someone who is experienced understands what he is talking about.
10 Someone who is inexperienced knows few things,
11 whereas one who has traveled extensively acquires cleverness.
12 I have seen many things during my travels
and have come to understand more than I can put into words.
13 I have often been in danger of death,
but I have been saved because of these things.
Blessed Is the Soul That Fears the Lord[g]
14 The spirit of those who fear the Lord will live,
15 for their hope is in him who is their Savior.
16 The man who fears the Lord is never fearful of anything else,
never cowardly, for he is his hope.
17 Blessed is the soul that fears the Lord.
18 To whom does he look? Who is his support?
19 The eyes of the Lord watch over those who love him;
he is their powerful shield and firm support,
a shelter from the scorching wind and a shade from the noonday sun,
a guard against stumbling and a help against falling.
20 He revives the soul and brightens the eyes;
he gives health, life, and blessing.
True Worship[h]
21 A sacrifice of ill-gotten goods is tainted;
22 the gifts of the wicked are not acceptable.
23 The Most High takes no pleasure in the offerings of the godless,
nor do their many sacrifices gain his pardon for their sins.
24 Like the man who slays a son in his father’s presence
is the one who offers a sacrifice taken from the possessions of the poor.
25 The bread of charity is life itself to the poor;
whoever deprives them of it is a murderer.
26 To take away a neighbor’s livelihood is to commit murder;
27 to deny a laborer his wages is to shed blood.
28 When one builds up and another tears down,
what have they gotten out of it but hard work?
29 When one prays and another curses,
to whose voice will the Lord listen?
30 If someone bathes after touching a corpse and then touches it again,
what has been gained by washing?
31 So it is with the one who fasts for his sins
and then goes out and commits them again.
Who will listen to his prayer?
And what has he gained by his penance?
Chapter 35
1 The one who observes the law multiplies his offerings;
2 one who keeps the commandments sacrifices a peace offering.
3 The one who returns a kindness offers choice flour,[i]
4 and one who gives alms presents a sacrifice of praise.
5 If you wish to please the Lord, abandon wickedness;
to forsake wrongdoing is a sacrifice of atonement.
6 Do not appear before the Lord empty-handed,
7 for all that you offer is in fulfillment of the commandments.
8 The offering of the righteous enriches the altar,
and its pleasing odor rises before the Most High.
9 The sacrifice of the righteous is acceptable,
nor will it ever be forgotten.
10 Have a spirit of generosity when you honor the Lord;
do not begrudge the firstfruits of your labor.
11 With every gift show a cheerful countenance,
and dedicate your tithes in a spirit of joy.
12 Give to the Most High as he has given to you,
as generously as your means allow.
13 For the Lord never neglects to repay,
and he will reward you sevenfold.
[The man who gives to the poor makes God his debtor;
who will make recompense if not God?][j]
God Judges According to the Heart[k]
14 Do not offer God a bribe, for he will not accept it,
15 and do not place your hope in a dishonest sacrifice.
For the Lord is a judge,
and he is completely impartial.
16 He will not show favoritism to the detriment of the poor,
and he listens to the cries of the oppressed.
17 He does not ignore the supplication of the orphan,
or that of the widow when she pours out her complaint.
18 Do not the tears of the widow stream down her cheeks
19 as she cries out against the one who has been their cause?
20 The one who serves God wholeheartedly will be heard;
his petition will reach the heavens.
21 The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds;
it does not rest until it reaches its goal.
Nor will it desist until the Most High responds,
22 relieves the sufferings of the righteous, and reestablishes equity.
Indeed God will not delay,
nor will he cease to act on their behalf,[l]
until he has crushed the bones of the merciless
23 and wreaked vengeance on the nations,
until he has destroyed the insolent multitude
and shattered the scepters of the wicked,
24 until he has requited each one according to his deeds
and repaid his works as his intentions deserve,
25 until he has rendered justice to his people
and disposed them to rejoice in his mercy.
26 His mercy is as welcome in a time of affliction
as rain clouds in a time of drought.
Chapter 36
Show Mercy, Lord, to the People Called by Your Name[m]
1 Have pity on us, Master, Lord of the universe,
2 and put the nations in dread of you.
3 Lift up your hand against the foreign nations,
and let them behold your mighty deeds.
4 As you have used us to display your holiness to them,
so now use them to show your glory to us.
5 Let them acknowledge[n] you, as we ourselves have acknowledged
that there is no God but you, O Lord.
6 Give new signs and work other wonders;
7 show forth the glorious splendor of your right hand and arm.
8 Rouse your anger and pour forth your wrath;
9 destroy the adversary and wipe out the foe.
10 Hasten the day and remember your oath;[o]
give people cause to recount your mighty deeds.
11 Let your burning wrath consume the survivors,
and let destruction be the fate of those who oppress your people.
12 Crush the heads of hostile rulers
who proclaim, “There is no one else but us.”
13 Gather all the tribes of Jacob,[p]
Footnotes
- Wisdom of Ben Sira 33:19 More than simply dispensing instruction, the sage is concerned with teaching his disciples to live by wisdom. Thus, he will present, at the end of his work, the great personages of Israel: they are models of fidelity to the covenant, the great figures of the tradition of the People of God.
- Wisdom of Ben Sira 33:19 These recommendations flow from simple common sense. However, to erect them into a final and absolute rule of human conduct would be to do harm to other pages of the Bible that go further.
- Wisdom of Ben Sira 33:25 This text reflects the situation of one epoch and the harsh ideas that ruled all education in antiquity. In this environment, the author tempers the harshness of the customs, for he recognizes a justice toward slaves to save them from the arbitrariness of the master (Ex 21:1-6, 26-27; Lev 25:46), and the last verse expresses a discreet note of humanity.
For the attitude toward slavery in the New Testament, see Eph 6:9; Col 4:1; Philem 16. - Wisdom of Ben Sira 34:1 The ancients regarded dreams as a means by which God could communicate with human beings. The author does not exclude this possibility of which the Bible gives many examples (Gen 28:10-17; 35:5-11; 2 Ki 3:4-14; Mt 1:20f). But he maintains a healthy mistrust, for one cannot, in practice, verify the origin of dreams.
- Wisdom of Ben Sira 34:8 The author stresses that dreams are deceptive but the law and wisdom are ever true.
- Wisdom of Ben Sira 34:9 Someone who is well traveled: some early MSS read: “Someone who is educated.”
- Wisdom of Ben Sira 34:14 This passage praises the virtues and blessings of the wise, those who fear the Lord, of which the author is himself an excellent example. With the Lord at their side they can courageously face all of life’s dangers and difficulties. The last word in the passage (blessing) synthesizes all the material and spiritual gifts the Lord has allotted to his people.
- Wisdom of Ben Sira 34:21 The author loves the liturgy, but he holds that the cult and law, religion and morality, always go together. Above all, worship must be true and not a rite of falsehood and injustice—the Prophets said it much more vehemently (Isa 1:11; Jer 7:21-23; Am 5:22-25; Hos 8:13). Love, justice, and fidelity are part of the true sacrifice imposed by the law (Lev 2; 3; 7:11; 16).
- Wisdom of Ben Sira 35:3 Choice flour: an offering to God prescribed by Lev 2:1ff.
- Wisdom of Ben Sira 35:13 Added by some early MSS.
- Wisdom of Ben Sira 35:14 God cannot be bought by offerings, but he hears the cry of the poor, those whom society despises and sacrifices. Is not this the situation of those who are oppressed and marginalized because of their religion? God’s mercy is for them.
- Wisdom of Ben Sira 35:22 Nor . . . behalf: Hebrew reads: “and like a warrior he will not be patient.”
- Wisdom of Ben Sira 36:1 This prayer, formulated some twenty years before the persecution of Antiochus IV Epiphanes and the revolt of the Maccabees, is a moving one. It expresses the suffering of a people threatened in its national and religious traditions, in its deepest convictions. It vibrates with the hope—which until then had been absent from the writings of the sages—that the salvation announced by the Prophets and attained by Israel will come.
- Wisdom of Ben Sira 36:5 Let them acknowledge: Hebrew reads: “Then they will know.”
- Wisdom of Ben Sira 36:10 Your oath: Hebrew reads: “the appointed time.”
- Wisdom of Ben Sira 36:13 This chapter in the Greek lacks verse numbers 14 and 15 although there is no text missing.
