Sirach 39

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	NEW JERUSALEM
1 How different the man who devotes himself to the study of the law of the Most High! He explores the wisdom of the men of old and occupies himself with the prophecies;	1 Not so with one who concentrates his mind and his meditation on the Law of the Most High. Heresearches into the wisdom of al the Ancients, he occupies his time with the prophecies.
2 He treasures the discourses of famous men, and goes to the heart of involved sayings;	2 He preserves the discourses of famous men, he is at home with the niceties of parables.
3 He studies obscure parables, and is busied with the hidden meanings of the sages.	3 He researches into the hidden sense of proverbs, he ponders the obscurities of parables.
4 He is in attendance on the great, and has entrance to the ruler.	4 He enters the service of princes, he is seen in the presence of rulers. He travels in foreign countries, hehas experienced human good and human evil.
5 He travels among the peoples of foreign lands to learn what is good and evil among men.	5 At dawn and with al his heart he turns to the Lord his Creator; he pleads in the presence of the MostHigh, he opens his mouth in prayer and makes entreaty for his sins.
6 His care is to seek the LORD, his Maker, to petition the Most High, To open his lips in prayer, to ask pardon for his sins. Then, if it pleases the LORD Almighty, he will be filled with the spirit of understanding; He will pour forth his words of wisdom and in prayer give thanks to the LORD,	6 If such be the wil of the great Lord, he wil be filled with the spirit of intel igence, he wil shower forthwords of wisdom, and in prayer give thanks to the Lord.
7 Who will direct his knowledge and his counsel, as he meditates upon his mysteries.	7 He will grow upright in purpose and learning, he will ponder the Lord's hidden mysteries.
8 He will show the wisdom of what he has learned and glory in the law of the LORD'S covenant.	8 He will display the instruction he has received, taking his pride in the Law of the Lord's covenant.
9 Many will praise his understanding; his fame can never be effaced; Unfading will be his memory, through all generations his name will live;	9 Many wil praise his intel igence and it wil never be forgotten. His memory will not disappear,generation after generation his name will live.
10 Peoples will speak of his wisdom, and in assembly sing his praises.	10 Nations wil proclaim his wisdom, the assembly will celebrate his praises.
11 While he lives he is one out of a thousand, and when he dies his renown will not cease.	11 If he lives long, his name will be more glorious than a thousand others, and if he dies, that wil satisfyhim just as wel .
12 Once more I will set forth my theme to shine like the moon in its fullness!	12 And here are some more of my reflections: yes, I am as ful as the moon at the ful !
13 Listen, my faithful children: open up your petals, like roses planted near running waters;	13 Listen to me, devout children, and blossom like the rose that grows on the bank of a watercourse.
14 Send up the sweet odor of incense, break forth in blossoms like the lily. Send up the sweet odor of your hymn of praise; bless the LORD for all he has done!	14 Give off a sweet smel like incense, flower like the lily, spread your fragrance abroad, sing a song ofpraise blessing the Lord for all his works.
15 Proclaim the greatness of his name, loudly sing his praises, With music on the harp and all stringed instruments; sing out with joy as you proclaim:	15 Declare the greatness of his name, proclaim his praise with song and with lyre, and this is how youmust sing his praises:
16 The works of God are all of them good; in its own time every need is supplied.	16 'How wonderful, the actions of the Lord! Whatever he orders is done at the proper time!' You must notsay, 'What is this? Why is that?' There is a proper time for every question.
17 At his word the waters become still as in a flask; he had but to speak and the reservoirs were made.	17 At his word, the water stops and piles up high, at his voice, the watery reservoirs take shape,
18 He has but to command and his will is done; nothing can limit his achievement.	18 at his command, whatever he wants is done, no one can stop him, if he intends to save.
19 The works of all mankind are present to him; not a thing escapes his eye.	19 He can see whatever human beings are doing, nothing can be hidden from his eye;
20 His gaze spans all the ages; to him there is nothing unexpected.	20 his gaze stretches from eternity to eternity, and nothing can astonish him.
21 No cause then to say: "What is the purpose of this?" Everything is chosen to satisfy a need.	21 You must not say, 'What is this? Why is that?' for everything has been made for a purpose.
22 His blessing overflows like the Nile; like the Euphrates it enriches the surface of the earth.	22 As his blessing covers the dry land like a river and soaks it like a flood,
23 Again, his wrath expels the nations and turns fertile land into a salt marsh.	23 so retribution is his legacy to the nations, just as he has turned fresh waters to salt.
24 For the virtuous his paths are level, to the haughty they are steep;	24 His ways are as smooth for the devout, as they are ful of obstacles for the wicked.
25 Good things for the good he provided from the beginning, but for the wicked good things and bad.	25 Good things were created from the beginning for good people, as bad ones were for sinners.
26 Chief of all needs for human life are water and fire, iron and salt, The heart of the wheat, milk and honey, the blood of the grape, and oil, and cloth;	26 The prime needs of human beings for living are water and fire, iron and salt, wheat-flour, milk andhoney, the juice of the grape, oil and clothing.
27 For the good all these are good, but for the wicked they turn out evil.	27 Al these are good for those who are good, but turn out bad for sinners.
28 There are storm winds created to punish, which in their fury can dislodge mountains; When destruction must be, they hurl all their force and appease the anger of their Maker.	28 Some winds have been created for punishing, in his fury, he uses them as scourges; on the day ofdoom, they unleash their violence and appease the wrath of their Creator.
29 In his treasury also, kept for the proper time, are fire and hail, famine, disease,	29 Fire and hail, famine and death, have al been created for punishing.
30 Ravenous beasts, scorpions, vipers, and the avenging sword to exterminate the wicked;	30 Wild animals' fangs, scorpions, vipers, the avenging sword for the ruin of the godless:
31 In doing his bidding they rejoice, in their assignments they disobey not his command.	31 all of them exult in discharging his orders, ready on earth whenever the need arises and, when theirtime comes, not fal ing short of his word.
32 So from the first I took my stand, and wrote down as my theme:	32 That is why I was determined from the outset, why I have pondered and why I have written,
33 The works of God are all of them good; every need when it comes he fills.	33 'The works of the Lord are all good, when the time is right, he gives whatever is needed.
34 No cause then to say: "This is not as good as that"; for each shows its worth at the proper time.	34 You must not say, "This is worse than that," for, sooner or later, everything proves its worth.
35 So now with full joy of heart proclaim and bless the name of the Holy One.	35 So now, sing with al your heart and voice, and bless the name of the Lord!'