Sirach 2

NEW JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 My child, if you aspire to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for an ordeal.	1 Son, when you apply yourself to the service of God, stand in justice and in fear, and prepare your soul for temptation.
2 Be sincere of heart, be steadfast, and do not be alarmed when disaster comes.	2 Humble your heart, and persevere. Incline your ear, and accept words of understanding. And you should not hurry away in the time of distress.
3 Cling to him and do not leave him, so that you may be honoured at the end of your days.	3 Endure steadfastly for God. Join yourself to God, and persevere, so that your life may increase in the very end.
4 Whatever happens to you, accept it, and in the uncertainties of your humble state, be patient,	4 Accept everything that will happened to you, and persevere in your sorrow, and have patience in your humiliation.
5 since gold is tested in the fire, and the chosen in the furnace of humiliation.	5 For gold and silver are tested in fire, yet truly, acceptable men are tested in the furnace of humiliation.
6 Trust him and he wil uphold you, fol ow a straight path and hope in him.	6 Believe God, and he will restore you to health. And straighten your way, and hope in him. Observe his fear, and grow old in it.
7 You who fear the Lord, wait for his mercy; do not turn aside, for fear you fal .	7 You who fear the Lord, wait for his mercy. And do not turn away from him, lest you fall.
8 You who fear the Lord, trust him, and you will not be robbed of your reward.	8 You who fear the Lord, believe in him. And your reward will not be taken away.
9 You who fear the Lord, hope for those good gifts of his, everlasting joy and mercy.	9 You who fear the Lord, hope in him. And mercy will approach you, to your delight.
10 Look at the generations of old and see: whoever trusted in the Lord and was put to shame? Orwhoever, steadfastly fearing him, was forsaken? Or whoever cal ed to him and was ignored?	10 You who fear the Lord, love him. And your hearts will be illuminated.
11 For the Lord is compassionate and merciful, he forgives sins and saves in the time of distress.	11 My sons, consider the nations of men, and know that not one of them hoped in the Lord and was confounded.
12 Woe to faint hearts and listless hands, and to the sinner who treads two paths.	12 For who has remained in his commandment and been abandoned? Or who has called upon him, and yet he despised him?
13 Woe to the listless heart that has no faith, for such will have no protection.	13 For God is upright and merciful, and he will forgive sins in the day of tribulation. And he is the Protector to all those who seek him in truth.
14 Woe to you who have lost the strength to endure; what will you do at the Lord's visitation?	14 Woe to the duplicitous heart, and to the wicked lips, and to the hands that do evil, and to the sinner who walks the earth by two ways!
15 Those who fear the Lord do not disdain his words, and those who love him keep his ways.	15 Woe to the dissolute in heart, who do not trust God! For, as a result, they will not be protected by him.
16 Those who fear the Lord do their best to please him, and those who love him wil find satisfaction in theLaw.	16 Woe to those who have lost endurance, and who have abandoned upright ways, and who have turned aside to depraved ways!
17 Those who fear the Lord keep their hearts prepared and humble themselves in his presence.	17 And what will they do when the Lord begins to examine them?
18 Let us fal into the hands of the Lord, not into any human clutches; for as his majesty is, so too is hismercy.	18 Those who fear the Lord will not be unbelieving toward his Word. And those who love him will keep to his way.
	19 Those who fear the Lord will seek the things that are well-pleasing to him. And those who love him will be filled with his law.
	20 Those who fear the Lord will prepare their hearts, and they will sanctify their souls in his sight.
	21 Those who fear the Lord keep his commandments, and they will have patience even until his examination,
	22 saying: “If we do not do penance, then we will fall into the hands of the Lord, and not into the hands of men.”
	23 For according to his greatness, so also is his mercy with him.