Chapter Eleven

Prosperity and trials, life and death, poverty and wealth – all come from the Lord. Be meek and wise. Do not judge a person by appearance. Before you investigate – do not condemn. Before you listen – do not answer. Do not undertake many tasks at once. Choose a task – and hold to it firmly. Do not admit every person into your house. Before death, do not call anyone blessed: at the end of a man’s life his deeds are revealed and his fate is made clear.

Sirach 11:1. The wisdom of the humble will lift up his head and seat him among the great. Sirach 11:2. Do not praise a man for his beauty, and do not despise anyone for his appearance. Sirach 11:3. The bee is small among flying creatures, but her fruit is the best of sweets. Sirach 11:4. Do not boast in the splendor of your clothing, and do not exalt yourself in the day of glory: for the works of the Lord are wondrous, and His works are hidden among men. 4. This is explained in verses 5 and 6.

Sirach 11:5. Many of the mighty have sat on the ground, but the one whom no one thought about wore the crown. Sirach 11:6. Many of the strong have suffered utter disgrace, and the famous have been delivered into the hands of others. Sirach 11:7. Before you investigate, do not condemn; understand first, and then reprove. Sirach 11:8. Before you listen, do not answer, and do not interrupt in the middle of speech. Sirach 11:9. Do not dispute about matters not concerning you, and do not sit in the judgment of sinners. Sirach 11:10. My son! do not undertake many tasks: when there are many tasks, you will not remain without guilt. And if you pursue them, you will not catch up with them, and if you flee from them, you will not escape. Sirach 11:11. There is one who toils, strains himself, and hurries, and yet falls further behind. Sirach 11:12. Another is weak, needs help, is feeble and lacking in strength, and abounds in poverty; Sirach 11:13. but the eyes of the Lord looked upon him for good, and He raised him up from his humiliation and lifted up his head, and many were amazed at the sight of him. Sirach 11:14. Good and evil, life and death, poverty and wealth – all come from the Lord. Sirach 11:15. The gift of the Lord is given to the pious, and His favor will prosper them forever. Sirach 11:16. One becomes rich through his prudence and thriftiness, and this is his share of the reward, Sirach 11:17. when he says, “I have found rest, and now I will enjoy my possessions. Sirach 11:18. And he does not know how much time will pass before he leaves them to another and dies. Sirach 11:19. Stand firm in your covenant and keep to it, and grow old in your work. Sirach 11:20. Do not be amazed at the works of the sinner, but trust in the Lord and remain in your labor: Sirach 11:21. for it is easy in the eyes of the Lord to quickly and suddenly enrich the poor. Sirach 11:22. The blessing of the Lord is the reward of the pious, and in a short time it flourishes with His blessing. 19–22. Do not be envious of the apparent prosperity of the sinner. Hold firmly to your chosen honest occupation and your pious frame of mind, and the Lord will bless you.

Sirach 11:23. Do not say, “What more do I need? And what good things can I have from now on? Sirach 11:24. Do not say, “I have enough, and what evil can I now suffer? Sirach 11:25. In the days of prosperity there is forgetting of misfortune, and in the days of misfortune there is no remembering of prosperity. Sirach 11:26. It is easy for the Lord to repay a man according to his deeds on the day of death. Sirach 11:27. A brief suffering brings forgetfulness of pleasures, and at the end of a man’s life his deeds are revealed. Sirach 11:28. Before death do not call anyone blessed; a man is recognized by his children. 20–28. “Before death do not call anyone blessed”: his prosperity can change to misfortune at any moment. Only death serves as the limit after which the true worth of a man in the past and his fate in the future are clarified: “at the end of a man’s life his deeds are revealed,” and “it is easy for the Lord to repay a man according to his deeds on the day of death.” And if this death will be the death of a sinful man, destined to appear before the terrible judgment of God’s justice, then the relatively brief, momentary sufferings of death will eclipse in the consciousness of the dying man all the former pleasures of life.

Sirach 11:29. Do not admit every person into your house, for many are the tricks of the deceitful. Sirach 11:30. As a hunting bird in a snare, so is the heart of the proud: he, like a spy, watches for your fall; Sirach 11:31. turning good into evil, he devises schemes and puts a blemish on the chosen ones. Sirach 11:32. From a spark of fire the coals are multiplied, and a sinful man devises schemes for bloodshed. 32. Just as from a spark of fire new flame can result and thus increase the amount of coals, so from sinful impulses in the soul of an ungodly man, new and new victims of his wickedness can arise.

Sirach 11:33. Guard yourself against an evildoer – for he devises evil – so that he may not put a permanent blemish upon you. Sirach 11:34. Welcome a stranger into your house, and he will upset you with strife and make you a stranger to your own.