Sirach 3

CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN	NEW JERUSALEM
1 The sons of wisdom are the Church of the just: and their generation is obedience and love.	1 Children, listen to me for I am your father: do what I tel you, and so be safe;
2 Sons, listen to the judgment of your father, and act accordingly, so that you may be saved.	2 for the Lord honours the father above his children and upholds the rights of a mother over her sons.
3 For God has honored the father in the sons, and, when seeking the judgment of the mother, he has confirmed it in the children.	3 Whoever respects a father expiates sins,
4 He who loves God will plead with him on behalf of sins, and will keep himself away from sin, and will be heeded in the prayers of his days.	4 whoever honours a mother is like someone amassing a fortune.
5 And, like one who stores up treasure, so also is he who honors his mother.	5 Whoever respects a father will in turn be happy with children, the day he prays for help, he will be heard.
6 He who honors his father will find happiness in his own children, and he will be heeded in the day of his prayer.	6 Long life comes to anyone who honours a father, whoever obeys the Lord makes a mother happy.
7 He who honors his father will live a long life. And he who obeys his father will be a refreshment to his mother.	7 Such a one serves parents as wel as the Lord.
8 He who fears the Lord honors his parents, and he will serve them as masters, for it is they who conceived him.	8 Respect your father in deed as wel as word, so that blessing may come on you from him;
9 In word and deed, and in all things, honor your father with patience,	9 since a father's blessing makes his children's house firm, while a mother's curse tears up its foundations.
10 so that a blessing may come to you from him, and so that his blessing may remain to the very end.	10 Do not make a boast of disgrace overtaking your father, your father's disgrace reflects no honour onyou;
11 The blessing of the father strengthens the houses of the sons; but the curse of the mother uproots even its foundation.	11 for a person's own honour derives from the respect shown to his father, and a mother held in dishonouris a reproach to her children.
12 Do not boast in the disgrace of your father; for his shame is not your glory.	12 My child, support your father in his old age, do not grieve him during his life.
13 For the glory of a man is from the honor of his father, and a father without honor is a discredit to the son.	13 Even if his mind should fail, show him sympathy, do not despise him in your health and strength;
14 Son, support your father in his old age, and do not grieve him in his life.	14 for kindness to a father will not be forgotten but wil serve as reparation for your sins.
15 And if his mind should fail, show kindness; and do not spurn him when you are in your strength. For almsgiving to the father will never be forgotten.	15 On your own day of ordeal God wil remember you: like frost in sunshine, your sins wil melt away.
16 For even in return for the sin of the mother, good will be repaid to you.	16 Whoever deserts a father is no better than a blasphemer, and whoever distresses a mother is accursedof the Lord.
17 And you will be built up in justice, and you will be remembered in the day of tribulation. And your sins will dissolve like ice in warm weather.	17 My child, be gentle in carrying out your business, and you will be better loved than a lavish giver.
18 What an evil form has he who forsakes his father! And whoever exasperates his mother is accursed by God.	18 The greater you are, the more humbly you should behave, and then you wil find favour with the Lord;
19 Son, perform your works in meekness, and you shall be loved beyond the glory of men.	19
20 However great you may be, humble yourself in all things, and you will find grace in the presence of God.	20 for great though the power of the Lord is, he accepts the homage of the humble.
21 For only the power of God is great, and he is honored by the humble.	21 Do not try to understand things that are too difficult for you, or try to discover what is beyond yourpowers.
22 You should not seek the things that are too high for you, and you should not examine the things that are beyond your ability. But as for the things that God has entrusted to you, consider these always. But you should not be curious in too many of his works.	22 Concentrate on what has been assigned you, you have no need to worry over mysteries.
23 For it is not necessary for you to see with your own eyes the things that are hidden.	23 Do not meddle with matters that are beyond you; what you have been taught already exceeds thescope of the human mind.
24 In unnecessary matters, do not choose to be an examiner of many different things, and you should not be curious about too many of his works.	24 For many have been misled by their own notions, wicked presumption having warped their judgement.
25 For many things have been revealed to you, beyond the understanding of men.	25
26 Yet uncertainty in these things has also undermined many persons and has detained their minds in vanity.	26 A stubborn heart wil come to a bad end, and whoever dal ies with danger wil perish in it.
27 A hardened heart will have evil in the very end, and he who loves peril will perish in it.	27 A stubborn heart is weighed down with troubles, the sinner heaps sin on sin.
28 A heart advancing in two directions will not have success, and the depraved heart will be scandalized in this way.	28 For the disease of the proud there is no cure, since an evil growth has taken root there.
29 A wicked heart will be burdened with sorrows, and a sinner will add further sins.	29 The heart of the sensible wil reflect on parables, an attentive ear is the sage's dream.
30 The synagogue of the arrogant will not be healed. For the stalk of sinfulness will take root in them, and it will not be understood.	30 Water puts out a blazing fire, almsgiving expiates sins.
31 The heart of the wise is understood by wisdom, and a good ear will listen to wisdom with all its desire.	31 Whoever gives favours in return is mindful of the future; at the moment of falling, such a person wil findsupport.
32 A wise and understanding heart will abstain from sins, and will have success in works of justice.
33 Water extinguishes a burning fire, and almsgiving withstands sins.
34 And God is the watchman for him who repays a kindness. He remembers him afterwards, and in the time of his fall, he will find a firm support.