Ben Sira 14

¹Happy those whose mouth causes them no grief,[#A clear conscience, the result of honoring personal commitments and responsibilities, brings contentment and peace.]

those who are not stung by remorse for sin.

²Happy are those whose conscience does not reproach them,

those who have not lost hope.

³Wealth is not appropriate for the mean-spirited;[#Ben Sira offers a case study about the miserable life of the “small-hearted” (Heb. leb qaṭan ) to verify vv. 1–2. They are evil because they do not use their wealth properly to benefit themselves or others. While they are never satisfied that they have enough, they ignore their own needs and hospitality itself, feeding on the generosity of others, in order to protect their own resources. Ironically, after their death, strangers, with no obligation to keep their memory alive, enjoy their wealth.]

to misers, what use is gold?

⁴What they deny themselves they collect for someone else,

and strangers will live sumptuously on their possessions.

⁵To whom will they be generous that are stingy with themselves

and do not enjoy what is their own?

⁶None are worse than those who are stingy with themselves;

they punish their own avarice.

⁷If ever they do good, it is by mistake;

in the end they reveal their meanness.

⁸Misers are evil people,

they turn away and disregard others.

⁹The greedy see their share as not enough;

greedy injustice dries up the soul.

¹⁰The eye of the miserly is rapacious for food,

but there is none of it on their own table.

¹¹My son, if you have the means, treat yourself well,[#Three realities govern Ben Sira’s attitude toward a proper use of wealth: the inevitability and uncertainty of death, the ephemeral nature of human accomplishments, the lack of reward or punishment after death. He advises generous enjoyment of God’s gift of wealth before death.]

and enjoy life as best you can.

¹²Remember that death does not delay,

and you have not been told the grave’s appointed time.

¹³Before you die, be good to your friends;

give them a share in what you possess.

¹⁴Do not deprive yourself of good things now

or let a choice portion escape you.

¹⁵Will you not leave your riches to others,

and your earnings to be divided by lot?

¹⁶Give and take, treat yourself well,

for in Sheol there are no joys to seek.

¹⁷All flesh grows old like a garment;

the age-old law is: everyone must die.

¹⁸As with the leaves growing on a luxuriant tree—

one falls off and another sprouts—

So with the generations of flesh and blood:

one dies and another flourishes.

¹⁹All human deeds surely perish;

the works they do follow after them.

²⁰Happy those who meditate on Wisdom,

and fix their gaze on knowledge;

²¹Who ponder her ways in their heart,

and understand her paths;

²²Who pursue her like a scout,

and watch at her entry way;

²³Who peep through her windows,

and listen at her doors;

²⁴Who encamp near her house

and fasten their tent pegs next to her walls;

²⁵Who pitch their tent beside her,

and dwell in a good place;

²⁶Who build their nest in her leaves,[#The shift in imagery creates a more intimate relationship. Those seeking Wisdom dwell within her as a bird nests within a leafy tree.]

and lodge in her branches;

²⁷Who take refuge from the heat in her shade

and dwell in her home.