Sirach 42

Sirach 42

¹Be ashamed of repeating what you hear[#Sir 4.20–22; 41.16]

and of betraying secrets.

Then you will show proper shame

and will find favor with everyone.

Of the following things do not be ashamed,

and do not sin by showing partiality:

²Do not be ashamed of the law of the Most High and his covenant[#Sir 41.19]

and of rendering judgment to acquit the ungodly;

³of keeping accounts with a partner or with traveling companions

and of dividing the inheritance of friends;

⁴of accuracy with scales and weights[#Prov 11.1]

and of acquiring much or little;

⁵of profit from dealing with merchants[#Sir 30.1, 2; 33.27]

and of frequent disciplining of children

and of drawing blood from the back of a wicked slave.

⁶Where there is an untrustworthy wife, a seal is a good thing,

and where there are many hands, lock things up.

⁷When you make a deposit, be sure it is counted and weighed,

and when you give or receive, put it all in writing.

⁸Do not be ashamed to correct the stupid or foolish

or the aged who are guilty of sexual immorality.

Then you will show your sound training

and will be approved by all.

Daughters and Fathers

⁹A daughter is a secret anxiety to her father,[#Sir 7.24, 25; 1 Cor 7.36]

and worry over her robs him of sleep;

when she is young, for fear she may not marry,

or if married, for fear she may be disliked;

¹⁰while a virgin, for fear she may be seduced[#Sir 22.4]

and become pregnant in her father’s house;

or having a husband, for fear she may go astray,

or, though married, for fear she may be barren.

¹¹Keep strict watch over a headstrong daughter,[#Sir 26.10]

or she may make you a laughingstock to your enemies,

a byword in the city and the assembly of the people,

and put you to shame in public gatherings.

See that there is no lattice in her room,

no spot that overlooks the approaches to the house.

¹²Do not let her parade her beauty before any man[#Sir 25.21]

or spend her time among married women,

¹³for from garments comes the moth[#Sir 25.13, 17]

and from a woman comes woman’s wickedness.

¹⁴Better is the wickedness of a man than a woman who does good;[#Prov 5.3; 6.24; 7.21]

it is a woman who brings shame and disgrace.

The Works of God in Nature

¹⁵I will now call to mind the works of the Lord[#2 Esd 6.38]

and will declare what I have seen.

By the word of the Lord his works are made,

and all his creatures do his will.

¹⁶The sun looks down on everything with its light,

and the work of the Lord is full of his glory.

¹⁷The Lord has not empowered even his holy ones[#Sir 18.4; 43.27, 28]

to recount all his marvelous works,

which the Lord the Almighty has established

so that the universe may stand firm in his glory.

¹⁸He searches out the abyss and the human heart;[#Dan 2.22]

he understands their subtleties.

For the Most High knows all that may be known;

he sees from of old the things that are to come.

¹⁹He discloses what has been and what is to be,[#Isa 41.22; 46.10]

and he reveals the traces of hidden things.

²⁰No thought escapes him,[#Ps 139.4; Isa 29.15; Wis 1.6]

and not a single word is hidden from him.

²¹He has set in order the splendors of his wisdom;[#Isa 40.13; Sir 16.26, 27; 18.6]

he is from all eternity one and the same.

Nothing can be added or taken away,

and he needs no one to be his counselor.

²²How desirable are all his works,[#Ps 104.24]

and how sparkling they are to see!

²³All these things live and remain forever;

each creature is preserved to meet a particular need.

²⁴All things come in pairs, one opposite the other,[#Sir 33.15]

and he has made nothing incomplete.

²⁵Each supplements the virtues of the other.

Who could ever tire of seeing his glory?