Sirach 34

¹ The hopes of a senseless man are empty and false; and dreams extol the imprudent.

² Like one who chases a shadow and pursues the wind, so also is one who pays attention to lying visions.

³ In the vision of dreams, one thing represents another, as when a mask is before the face of a man.

⁴ What can be cleansed by the unclean? And what truth can be spoken from a lie?

⁵ Erroneous divinations and false signs and the dreams of evildoers are emptiness.

⁶ For your heart suffers from imagination, like a woman suffering in childbirth. Unless it is a visitation sent from the Most High, you should not set your heart upon it.

⁷ For dreams have caused many to go astray, and those who have hoped in them have fallen away.

⁸ The word of the law will be fulfilled without a lie, and wisdom will be made plain in the mouths of the faithful.

⁹ He who has not been tested, what does he know? A man with much experience will consider many things. And whoever has learned much will explain with understanding.

¹⁰ He who has no experience knows little. And he who has done many things has made many mistakes.

¹¹ He who has not been tested, what kind of things can he know? He who has been deceived will be more cunning.

¹² I have seen much by wandering, and the customs of many things.

¹³ At times, I have even been in danger of death because of these things, but I was freed by the grace of God.

¹⁴ The spirit of those who fear God is sought, and they will be blessed by his providence.

¹⁵ For their hope is in him who saves them, and the eyes of God are on those who love him.

¹⁶ Those who fear the Lord will tremble at nothing, and they will not be terrified. For he is their hope.

¹⁷ The soul of him who fears the Lord is blessed.

¹⁸ To whom should he look, and who is his strength?

¹⁹ The eyes of the Lord are upon those who fear him. He is a powerful Protector, a Firmament of virtue, a Shelter from the heat, and a Covering from the midday sun,

²⁰ a Guardian from offenses, and a Helper from falling, who exalts the soul and illuminates the eyes, and who gives health and life and blessing.

²¹ An immolation from iniquity is a stained oblation, and the derisions of the unjust are not well pleasing.

²² The Lord is only for those who persevere for him in the way of truth and justice.

²³ The Most High does not approve of the gifts of the iniquitous. Neither does he have respect for the oblations of the unjust; neither will he forgive their sins because of the multitude of their sacrifices.

²⁴ Whoever offers a sacrifice from the substance of the poor is like one who sacrifices the son in the sight of his father.

²⁵ The bread of the indigent is the life of the poor. Whoever cheats them out of it is a man of blood.

²⁶ Whoever takes away the bread of sweat is like one who kills his neighbor.

²⁷ He who sheds blood, and he who cheats the hired hand out of his wages, are brothers.

²⁸ When one builds and another destroys, what benefit do they have from their labor?

²⁹ When one prays and another curses, whose voice will God heed?

³⁰ He who washes himself after touching the dead, and then touches him again, what was the benefit of his washing?

³¹ Similarly, a man who fasts for his sins, and then does the same again, what was the benefit of his humbling himself? Who will heed his prayer?