Wisdom of Ben Sira 42
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 42
1 Be ashamed of repeating everything you hear
and of betraying a confidence.
Then you will show a proper sense of shame
and find favor with everyone.
Things That Do Not Require a Sense of Shame
But of the following things do not be ashamed,
and do not sin in fear of the opinions of others.
2 Do not be ashamed of the law of the Most High and of his covenant,
or of acting justly even if it results in the acquittal of the ungodly;
3 of reckoning expenses with a partner or a traveling companion,
or of sharing an inheritance with friends;
4 of ensuring the accuracy of scales and measures,
or of acquiring possessions, whether few or many;
5 of earning a profit in dealing with merchants,
or of frequent disciplining of children,
or of drawing blood from the back of a wicked servant;
6 of employing a seal on your door if you have an erring wife,
or of using a key to make things secure where there are many hands;
7 of numbering every deposit,
or of recording all that is taken in or given out;
8 of correcting an ignorant or a foolish man,
or a dotard who bickers with the young;
in this way, you will exhibit your sound training
and win universal approval.
May Your Daughter Not Make You Ashamed[a]
9 A daughter is a treasure that makes her father anxious,
and in his worry about her he loses sleep:
when she is young, for fear she may never marry,
and when she is married, for fear her husband may hate her;
10 when she is a virgin, for fear she may be seduced
and become pregnant in her father’s house;
when she has a husband, for fear she may prove unfaithful,
and after marriage, for fear she may prove to be barren.
11 Keep a close watch on a headstrong daughter,
lest she make you an object of ridicule to your enemies,
causing you to be the talk of the town, the subject of gossip,
and an object of derision in public gatherings.
Make sure that her room has no lattice,
no spot that overlooks the approaches to the house.
12 Do not allow her to parade her beauty before any man
or spend her time with married women;
13 for just as out of clothes comes the moth
so from a woman comes woman’s wickedness.
14 Better is the wickedness of a man than a woman’s goodness,
but better is a religious daughter than a son without shame.
Praise to the Lord of Nature and of Israel[b]
The Canticle of Creatures[c]
The Works of the Lord Are Full of His Glory
15 Now I will recall the works of the Lord
and declare what I have seen.
By the word of the Lord his works came into existence
and all his creatures do his will.
16 As the sun illumines everything with its brilliant rays,
so the works of the Lord are full of his glory.
17 Yet the Lord has not empowered even his holy ones[d]
to tell of all his marvelous works,
which the Lord Almighty has accomplished
so that the universe may stand firm in his glory.
18 He fathoms both the abyss and the human heart
and comprehends their innermost secrets.
For the Most High possesses all knowledge
and observes the signs of the times.[e]
19 He makes known the past and the future
and reveals the evidence of hidden things.
20 No thought escapes his notice,
and not a single thing is hidden from him.
21 He has set in order the splendors of his wisdom,
for he is from everlasting to everlasting.
Nothing can be added to him or taken away;
he needs no one to give him counsel.
22 How beautiful are all his works,
and how dazzling they are to the eye.
23 All of his works endure and will abide forever for every need,
and all are obedient in any circumstance.
24 All things come in pairs, one the counterpart of the other;
he has made none of them imperfect.
25 Each complements the good qualities of the other.
Who could ever grow weary of gazing at their splendor?
Footnotes
- Wisdom of Ben Sira 42:9 Women constituted a mystery in the eyes of the ancients. Their virtue seemed threatened, and moreover, they seemed to be a plague along the path of men (see vv. 12-14). We find this mistrust and this paradox among many ancient Jewish authors. But we would do the author an injustice if we did not recall how beautifully he sang the praises of the good wife (see Sir 26:1-4, 15-18; 36:21-27).
- Wisdom of Ben Sira 42:15 The inaccessible thought of God and his wondrous work are nothing else but the sign of supreme wisdom. It is wisdom that the sage, filled with admiration, contemplates in such a well-ordered universe, and it is wisdom that he discerns even more clearly in the destiny of human beings. In these lengthy pages of contemplation and praise, the author thus invites the Jews, his brothers and sisters, to revive in themselves a deeper sense of God and better discern the vocation of their people in the face of the Greek paganism threatening to overcome them.
- Wisdom of Ben Sira 42:15 The chant of creation springs forth more than once in the Bible. These chapters form part of such a group of texts. Paul the Apostle will later affirm that the glory of God is visible in the universe that he offers for our contemplation (Rom 1:20): e.g., God’s creation and preservation of the universe (Sir 42:15ff, 23, 25; 43:1-26); his omniscience (v. 18ff); his perfect wisdom (vv. 21-22); and his eternity (v. 23). The author concludes the passage with a hymn of praise (Sir 43:27-33). See also Sir 16:24—18:14.
- Wisdom of Ben Sira 42:17 Holy ones: i.e., the angels.
- Wisdom of Ben Sira 42:18 It was believed by the ancients that the destiny of human beings was written in the stars, which regulated the course of time. And observes the signs of the times: Hebrew reads: “and from the beginning he has seen the things that are to come.”
