Ben Sira 40:1-7
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 40
Joys and Miseries of Life
1 A great anxiety has God allotted,[a]
and a heavy yoke, to the children of Adam,(A)
From the day they leave their mother’s womb
until the day they return to the mother of all the living.[b]
2 Troubled thoughts and fear of heart are theirs
and anxious foreboding until death.
3 Whether one sits on a lofty throne
or grovels in dust and ashes,
4 Whether one wears a splendid crown
or is clothed in the coarsest of garments—
5 There is wrath and envy, trouble and dread,
terror of death, fury and strife.
Even when one lies on his bed to rest,
his cares disturb his sleep at night.
6 So short is his rest it seems like none,
till in his dreams he struggles as he did by day,
Troubled by the visions of his mind,
like a fugitive fleeing from the pursuer.
7 As he reaches safety, he wakes up,
astonished that there was nothing to fear.
Footnotes
- 40:1–17 The former idyllic description of the universe is contrasted with the picture of the evils afflicting humanity. Every person, high or low, is burdened from birth to death with fears, anxieties, and troubles, by day and often by night, the time appointed for rest (vv. 1–7). For sinners, the suffering is much greater (vv. 8–10). What they gained by violence and injustice is quickly destroyed; but righteousness will prevail (vv. 14–17).
- 40:1 Mother of all the living: the earth from which human beings were taken. Cf. Gn 2:7; 3:19–20; Jb 1:21; Ps 139:15.
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