Sirach 14

NEW JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 Blessed is anyone who has not sinned in speech and who needs feel no remorse for sins.	1 Blessed is the man who has not slipped because of a word from his mouth, and who has not been stung by grief because of an offense.
2 Blessed is anyone whose conscience brings no reproach and who has never given up hope.	2 Happy is he who does not have sadness in his mind, and who has not fallen away from his hope.
3 Wealth is not the right thing for the niggardly, and what use are possessions to the covetous?	3 Substance is senseless for a greedy and stingy man. And what would a spiteful man do with gold?
4 Whoever hoards by stinting himself is hoarding for others, and others wil live sumptuously on hisriches.	4 Whoever acquires unjustly, according to his own mind, gathers for others. For another will spend his goods lavishly.
5 If someone is mean to himself, whom does he benefit? he does not even enjoy what is his own.	5 Whoever is wicked to himself, to whom will he be good? For he will not take enjoyment in his own goods.
6 No one is meaner than the person who is mean to himself, this is how his wickedness repays him.	6 Whoever has ill will toward himself, nothing is more worthless than he is. But such is the reward of his wickedness.
7 If he does any good, he does it unintentional y, and in the end he himself reveals his wickedness.	7 And if he does good, he does it ignorantly and unwillingly. And in the very end, he realizes his own malice.
8 Wicked the person who has an envious eye, averting his face, and careless of others' lives.	8 The eye of the spiteful man is wicked, and he averts his face and despises his own soul.
9 The eye of the grasping is not content with what he has, greed shrivels up the soul.	9 The eye of the greedy man is insatiable in his portion of iniquity. He will not be satisfied until he has consumed his own soul, withering it away.
10 The miser is grudging of bread, there is famine at his table.	10 An evil eye is directed at evil things. And he will not be satisfied by bread; instead, he will be needy and grieving at his own table.
11 My child, treat yourself as wel as you can afford, and bring worthy offerings to the Lord.	11 Son, if you have anything, do good to yourself, and offer worthy oblations to God.
12 Remember that death wil not delay, and that you have never seen Sheol's contract.	12 Remember that death has not been delayed, and that the covenant of the grave has been revealed to you. For the covenant of this world will pass away in death.
13 Be kind to your friend before you die, treat him as generously as you can afford.	13 Do good to your friend before you die. And according to your ability, extend your hand and give to the poor.
14 Do not refuse yourself the good things of today, do not let your share of what is lawfully desired passyou by.	14 Do not cheat yourself out of a good day, and do not let the smallest good gift pass you by.
15 Wil you not have to leave your fortune to another, and the fruit of your labour to be divided by lot?	15 Should you not leave it to others to divide your sorrows and labors by lot?
16 Give and receive, enjoy yourself -- there are no pleasures to be found in Sheol.	16 Give, and receive, and justify your soul.
17 Like clothes, every body wil wear out, the age -- old law is, 'Everyone must die.'	17 Before your passing, accomplish justice. For in death, there is no food to be found.
18 Like foliage growing on a bushy tree, some leaves fal ing, others growing, so are the generations offlesh and blood: one dies, another is born.	18 All flesh grows old like the grass, and like the foliage that springs forth from a green tree.
19 Every achievement rots away and perishes, and with it goes its author.	19 Some spring up, and others fall away. Such is the generation of flesh and blood. One is finished, and another is born.
20 Blessed is anyone who meditates on wisdom, and reasons with intelligence,	20 Every corruptible work will fail in the end. And its worker will go with it.
21 who studies her ways in his heart, and ponders her secrets.	21 But every excellent work will be justified. And whoever worked it will be honored by it.
22 He pursues her like a hunter, and lies in wait by her path;	22 Blessed is the man who will abide in wisdom, and who will meditate on her righteousness, and who, in his mind, will consider the circumspection of God.
23 he peeps in at her windows, and listens at her doors;	23 He considers her ways in his heart, and he finds understanding in her secrets. He goes after her like an investigator, and he is constant in her ways.
24 he lodges close to her house, and fixes his peg in her wal s;	24 He gazes through her windows, and he listens at her door.
25 he pitches his tent at her side, and lodges in an excel ent lodging;	25 He rests next to her house, and, fastening a peg in her walls, he sets up his cottage by her hands. And so, good things will find rest in his cottage as time passes.
26 he sets his children in her shade, and camps beneath her branches;	26 He will station his sons under her covering, and he will abide under her branches.
27 he is sheltered by her from the heat, and in her glory he makes his home.	27 He will be protected by her covering from the heat, and he will rest in her glory.