Home Master Index
←Prev   Sirach 3 as rendered by/in  Next→ 



3:1  Listen to a father’s warning, children, and act accordingly so that you may be safe.
3:2  The Lord gives pride of place to a father above his children and establishes a mother’s judgment above that of her offspring.
3:3  Those who honor their fathers will make up for their own sins,
3:4  and those who praise their mother are like people storing up treasure.
3:5  Those who honor their fathers will be made happy by their own children, and they will be heard when they pray.
3:6  Those who praise their fathers will live a long life, and those who listen to the Lord will give rest to their mothers,
3:7  and they will serve their parents as their masters.
3:8  Honor your father in action and word so that a blessing will come from him to you,
3:9  since a father’s blessing supports his children’s families, but a mother’s curse undermines their foundations.
3:10  Don’t glorify yourself in your father’s disgrace, because your father’s disgrace brings you no credit.
3:11  A father’s honor is the starting point for his children’s reputation, and a mother in disrepute is a disgrace to her children.
3:12  My child, help your father in his old age, and don’t give him grief during his life.
3:13  And if his understanding fails, be tolerant, and don’t shame him, because you have all your faculties.
3:14  Taking care of one’s father won’t be forgotten. It will be credited to you against your sins.
3:15  When you are in trouble, this will be recalled about you; like frost warmed by sunshine, so your sins will melt away.
3:16  Those who abandon their fathers are like blasphemers, and those who anger their mothers have been cursed by the Lord.
3:17  My child, conduct your affairs with gentleness, and you will be loved more than a person of good repute.
3:18  However great you become, humble yourself more, and you will find favor before the Lord,
3:20  because the Lord’s power is great, and he is glorified by the humble.
3:21  Don’t seek out things that are too difficult for you, and don’t investigate matters too perplexing for you.
3:22  Think about what you have been commanded, because you have no need for matters that are hidden.
3:23  Don’t meddle in things beyond your own affairs since you have already been shown things beyond human understanding.
3:24  Speculation has led many people astray, and false conjectures have weakened their thoughts.
3:26  A stubborn heart will come to misery, and whoever loves danger will be destroyed by it.
3:27  A stubborn heart will be weighed down by suffering, and the sinner will keep on sinning.
3:28  There’s no healing for the distress of arrogant people, because an evil plant has taken root in them.
3:29  The hearts of intelligent people will think about a proverb, and the wise desire people who are ready to listen.
3:30  Water will put out a blazing fire, and giving to those in need will make up for sins.
3:31  Those who repay favors consider the future, and at the moment when they fall, they will find support.