Siracide 34

NOVA VULGATA	NEW JERUSALEM
1 Vana spes et mendax viro insensato, et somnia extollunt imprudentes.	1 Vain and deceptive hopes are for the foolish, and dreams lend wings to fools.
2 Quasi qui apprehendit umbram et persequitur ventum, sic et qui attendit ad visa noctis.	2 As wel clutch at shadows and chase the wind as put any faith in dreams.
3 Hoc secundum hoc visio somniorum, ante faciem hominis similitudo faciei.	3 Dreams are no different from mirrors; confronting a face, the reflection of that face.
4 Ab immundo quid mundabitur? Et a mendace quid verum dicetur?	4 What can be cleansed by uncleanness, what can be verified by falsehood?
5 Divinationes et auguria et somnia vanitas est,	5 Divinations, auguries and dreams are nonsense, like the fantasies of a pregnant woman.
6 et, sicut parturientis, cor phantasias patitur. Nisi ab Altissimo fuerit emissa visitatio, ne dederis in illis cor tuum.	6 Unless sent as emissaries from the Most High, do not give them a thought;
7 Multos enim errare fecerunt somnia, et exciderunt sperantes in illis.	7 for dreams have led many astray, and those who relied on them have come to grief.
8 Sine mendacio consummabitur verbum legis, et sapientia in ore fideli consummatio.	8 Fulfil ing the Law requires no such falsehood, and wisdom is perfected in veracity.
9 Vir, qui peregrinatus est, multa didicit, et, qui multa expertus est, enarrabit scienter.	9 A much travel ed man knows many things, and a man of great experience wil talk sound sense.
10 Qui non est expertus, pauca recognoscit, qui autem peregrinatus est, multiplicat astutiam.	10 Someone who has never had his trials knows little; but the travel ed man is master of every situation.
11	11 I have seen many things on my travels, I have understood more than I can put into words.
12 Multa vidi errando et plurima verba intellexi;	12 I have often been in danger of death, but I have been spared, and this is why:
13 aliquoties usque ad mortem periclitatus sum et horum causa liberatus sum.	13 the spirit of those who fear the Lord can survive, for their hope is in someone with power to save them.
14 Spiritus timentium Dominum vivet, et in respectu illius benedicetur.	14 No one who fears the Lord need ever hesitate, or ever be daunted, since the Lord is his hope.
15 Spes enim illorum in salvantem illos, et oculi Dei in diligentes se.	15 Happy the soul of one who fears the Lord. On whom does he rely? Who supports him?
16 Qui timet Dominum, nihil trepidabit et non pavebit, quoniam ipse est spes eius.	16 The eyes of the Lord watch over those who love him, he is their powerful protection and their strongsupport, their screen from the desert wind, their shelter from the midday sun, a guard against stumbling, anassurance against a fal .
17 Timentis Dominum beata est anima eius.	17 He revives the spirit and brightens the eyes, he gives health, life and blessing.
18 Ad quem respicit? Et quis est fortitudo eius?	18 The sacrifice of an offering unjustly acquired is a mockery; the gifts of the impious are unacceptable.
19 Oculi Domini super timentes eum: protector potentiae, firmamentum virtutis, tegimen ardoris et umbraculum meridiani,	19 The Most High takes no pleasure in offerings from the godless, multiplying sacrifices wil not gainpardon for sin.
20 custodia offensionis et adiutorium casus, exaltans animam et illuminans oculos, dans sanitatem vitae et benedictionem.	20 Offering sacrifice from the property of the poor is as bad as slaughtering a son before his father'seyes.
21 Dominus solus sustinentibus se in via veritatis et iustitiae.	21 A meagre diet is the very life of the poor, to deprive them of it is to commit murder.
22 Immolantis ex iniquo, oblatio maculata, et non sunt beneplacitae hostiae iniustorum.	22 To take away a fel ow-man's livelihood is to kil him, to deprive an employee of his wages is to shedblood.
23 Dona iniquorum non probat Altissimus nec respicit in oblationes iniquorum nec in multitudine sacrificiorum eorum propitiabitur peccatis.	23 If one person builds while another pul s down, what wil they get out of it but trouble?
24 Qui offert sacrificium ex substantia pauperum, quasi qui victimat filium in conspectu patris sui.	24 If one person prays and another cal s down a curse, to which one's voice is the Master going to listen?
25 Panis egentium vita pauperum est; qui defraudat illum, homo sanguinis est.	25 If someone washes after touching a corpse, and then touches it again, what is the good of hiswashing?
26 Qui aufert in sudore panem, quasi qui occidit proximum suum;	26 Just so with someone who fasts for sin, and then goes and commits it again. Who is going to hear thatperson's prayer? What is the good of the self-abasement?
27 et effundit sanguinem, qui fraudem facit mercennario.
28 Unus aedificans et unus destruens; quid prodest illis nisi labor?
29 Unus orans et unus maledicens; cuius vocem exaudiet Deus?
30 Qui baptizatur a mortuo et iterum tangit eum: quid proficit lavatio illius?
31 Sic homo, qui ieiunat pro peccatis suis, et iterum vadens et eadem faciens. Orationem illius quis exaudiet? Aut quid proficit humiliando se?