Sirach 16

NEW JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 Do not long for a brood of worthless children, and do not take pleasure in godless sons.	1 You should not rejoice in impious children, if they are successful; nor should you take delight in them, if the fear of God is not in them.
2 However many you have, take no pleasure in them, unless the fear of the Lord lives among them.	2 You should not approve of their life, nor should you look with favor on their labors.
3 Do not count on their having long life, do not put too much faith in their number; for better have onethan a thousand, better die childless than have children who are godless.	3 For one child who fears God is better than one thousand impious children.
4 One person of sense can populate a city, but a race of lawless people will be destroyed.	4 And it is better to die without children, than to leave behind impious children.
5 My eyes have seen many such things, my ears have heard things even more impressive.	5 By means one person with understanding, a country will be inhabited. The tribe of the impious will become desolate.
6 Fire is kindled in a sinful society, Retribution blazes in a rebel ious nation.	6 Many such things my eyes have seen, and greater things than these my ear has heard.
7 God did not pardon the giants of old who, confident in their strength, had rebel ed.	7 In the synagogue of sinners, a fire will blaze forth; and amid an unbelieving people, wrath will flare up.
8 He did not spare the people with whom Lot lived; he abhorred them, rather, for their pride.	8 The giants of antiquity did not obtain pardon for their sins; they were destroyed by trusting in their own abilities.
9 He was pitiless to the nation of perdition -- those people who gloried in their sins-	9 And he did not spare the place of Lot’s sojourn, and he abhorred them because of the arrogance of their words.
10 as also to the six hundred thousand men on the march, who had banded together in their obstinacy.	10 He did not take pity on them, destroying an entire people, who even extolled themselves concerning their sins.
11 And had there been only one man stubborn, it would have been amazing had he escaped unpunished,since mercy and wrath alike belong to the Lord who is mighty to forgive and to pour out wrath.	11 And this was so with six hundred thousand men, who were gathered together in the hardness of their hearts. And if even a single obstinate person had escaped unpunished, it would be a wonder.
12 As great as his mercy, so is his severity; he judges each person as his deeds deserve:	12 For mercy and wrath are with him. He is powerful in forgiveness, and he pours forth wrath.
13 the sinner wil not escape with his il -gotten gains nor the patience of the devout go for nothing.	13 As is his mercy, so also is his correction; he judges a man according to his works.
14 He takes note of every charitable action, and everyone is treated as he deserves.	14 The sinner, in his violations, will not escape; but the patience of the One who shows mercy will not be diminished.
15	15 Every mercy will make a place for each man, according to the merit of his works, and according to the understanding of his sojourn.
16	16 You should not say: “I am hidden from God,” or, “Who, from on high, will take note of me?”
17 Do not say, 'I shal hide from the Lord; who is going to remember me up there? I shall not be noticedamong so many people; what am I in the immensity of creation?'	17 or, “Among a great number of people, I will not be noticed. For what is my soul amid such an immense creation?”
18 For see, the sky and the heavens above the sky, the abyss and the earth shake at his visitation.	18 Behold: the heavens, and the heaven of the heavens, the abyss, and the entire earth, and the things that are within these, will be shaken by his gaze,
19 The mountains and earth's foundations alike quail and tremble when he looks at them.	19 together with mountains and hills, and the foundations of the earth. When God casts his gaze upon them, they will be struck with trembling.
20 But to all this no one gives thought. Who keeps his movements in mind?	20 And concerning all these things, the heart is without understanding; but every heart is understood by him.
21 The storm wind itself is invisible, and most of what he does goes undetected.	21 And who will understand his ways, or the tempest, which no eye of man will see?
22 'Who wil report whether justice has been done? Who wil be watching? The covenant is remote!'	22 For many of his works are concealed. But who will announce the works of his justice? Or who will endure them? For the testament is far from some persons, and the examination of each thing is in its end.
23 Such are the thoughts of the person of little sense, stupid, misguided, cherishing his fol y.	23 Whoever diminishes the heart, thinks empty thoughts. For the imprudent and erring man thinks up foolishness.
24 Listen to me, my child, and learn knowledge, and give your whole mind to my words.	24 Listen to me, son, and learn the discipline of understanding, and attend to my words in your heart.
25 I shal expound discipline methodically and proclaim knowledge with precision.	25 And I will speak with equity about discipline, and I will strive to announce wisdom. So attend to my words in your heart, and I will speak with equity of spirit, about the virtues that God has set within his works from the beginning, and I will announce his knowledge in truth.
26 When God created his works in the beginning, he assigned them their places as soon as they weremade.	26 With the judgment of God, his works have been done from the beginning; and from their institution, he himself distinguished their parts and set their beginnings, in their kinds.
27 He determined his works for al time, from their origins to their distant generations. They know neitherhunger nor weariness, and they never desert their duties.	27 He has beautified their works unto eternity. They have neither hungered, nor labored, and they have not ceased from their works.
28 Not one has ever got in the way of another, and they wil never disobey his word.	28 Neither will any one of them cause anguish to his neighbor, forever.
29 And afterwards the Lord looked at the earth, and filled it with his good things.	29 You should not be incredulous at his word.
30 He covered its surface with every kind of animal, and to it they wil return.	30 Afterward, God looked with favor upon the earth, and he filled it with his goodness.
	31 The soul of every living thing brought word from before his face, and their return again is to him.