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Wisdom of Ben Sira 6:18-20
New Catholic Bible
Wisdom of Ben Sira 6:18-20
New Catholic Bible
The Apprenticeship of Wisdom
With All Your Soul Approach Her[a]
18 My child, choose instruction from your youth,
and you will still possess wisdom when your hair turns to gray.
19 Approach her like one who plows and sows,
and wait for her bountiful fruit.
For in cultivating her you will labor but little,
and very soon you will enjoy her harvest.
20 How harsh she seems to the undisciplined;
the fool cannot abide her.
Footnotes
- Wisdom of Ben Sira 6:18 For the ancients, wisdom is tradition, transmission of a conception and practice of life (see Prov 4); she is acquired at the cost of harsh discipline. She is, therefore, learned at the school of the ancients and by meditating on the word of God. But she is not content to repeat principles and customs; she wishes to come to life again in the persevering experience of whoever seeks to acquire her.
