Sirach 33

¹ No evil will befall the man who fears the Lord, but in trial he will deliver him again and again.

² A wise man will not hate the law, but he who is hypocritical about it is like a boat in a storm.

³ A man of understanding will trust in the law; for him the law is as dependable as an inquiry by means of Urim.

⁴ Prepare what to say, and thus you will be heard; bind together your instruction, and make your answer.

⁵ The heart of a fool is like a cart wheel, and his thoughts like a turning axle.

⁶ A stallion is like a mocking friend; he neighs under every one who sits on him.

⁷ Why is any day better than another, when all the daylight in the year is from the sun?

⁸ By the Lord's decision they were distinguished, and he appointed the different seasons and feasts;

⁹ some of them he exalted and hallowed, and some of them he made ordinary days.

¹⁰ All men are from the ground, and Adam was created of the dust.

¹¹ In the fulness of his knowledge the Lord distinguished them and appointed their different ways;

¹² some of them he blessed and exalted, and some of them he made holy and brought near to himself; but some of them he cursed and brought low, and he turned them out of their place.

¹³ As clay in the hand of the potter-- for all his ways are as he pleases-- so men are in the hand of him who made them, to give them as he decides.

¹⁴ Good is the opposite of evil, and life the opposite of death; so the sinner is the opposite of the godly.

¹⁵ Look upon all the works of the Most High; they likewise are in pairs, one the opposite of the other.

¹⁶ I was the last on watch; I was like one who gleans after the grape-gatherers; by the blessing of the Lord I excelled, and like a grape-gatherer I filled my wine press.

¹⁷ Consider that I have not labored for myself alone, but for all who seek instruction.

¹⁸ Hear me, you who are great among the people, and you leaders of the congregation, hearken.

¹⁹ To son or wife, to brother or friend, do not give power over yourself, as long as you live; and do not give your property to another, lest you change your mind and must ask for it.

²⁰ While you are still alive and have breath in you, do not let any one take your place.

²¹ For it is better that your children should ask from you than that you should look to the hand of you sons.

²² Excel in all that you do; bring no stain upon your honor.

²³ At the time when you end the days of your life, in the hour of death, distribute your inheritance.

²⁴ Fodder and a stick and burdens for an ass; bread and discipline and work for a servant.

²⁵ Set your slave to work, and you will find rest; leave his hands idle, and he will seek liberty.

²⁶ Yoke and thong will bow the neck, and for a wicked servant there are racks and tortures.

²⁷ Put him to work, that he may not be idle, for idleness teaches much evil.

²⁸ Set him to work, as is fitting for him, and if he does not obey, make his fetters heavy.

²⁹ Do not act immoderately toward anybody, and do nothing without discretion.

³⁰ If you have a servant, let him be as yourself, because you have bought him with blood.

³¹ If you have a servant, treat him as a brother, for as your own soul you will need him. If you ill-treat him, and he leaves and runs away, which way will you go to seek him?