Chapter 34

Divinations, omens, and dreams are vanity; if they are not sent from the Most High for instruction, do not apply your heart to them. Wisdom dwells in the mouths of the faithful to it. The one who fears the Lord will not be terrified of anything, for his hope is the Lord. The Most High does not look with favor on the offerings of the wicked. Only sincere repentance for sins and a genuine readiness not to repeat them are beneficial.

Sirach 34:1. Empty and false hopes are in a person lacking judgment, and foolish dreams give wings to fools. 2. As one who embraces a shadow or chases the wind is one who trusts in dreams. 3. Dreams are altogether like a shadow of a face opposite a face. 3. A shadow of a face opposite a face, that is, a shadow of a face (cf. v. 2).

Sirach 34:4. What can be clean from the unclean, and what can be true from the false? 5. Divinations and omens and dreams are vanity, and the heart is filled with fantasies, as with the longings of a woman in labor. 5. The one who trusts dreams waits for their fulfillment with the same yearning that a woman in labor awaits the appearance of her child.

Sirach 34:6. If they are not sent from the Most High for instruction, do not apply your heart to them. 7. Dreams have led many astray, and those who hoped in them have suffered ruin. 8. The law is fulfilled without deception, and wisdom in the mouths of the faithful is brought to completion. 8. Inviolably is that law fulfilled, that wisdom dwells and comes to perfection only in those who serve it zealously and sincerely.

Sirach 34:9. A learned person knows much, and one with much experience will speak of knowledge. 10. One who has not experienced much knows little; but one who has traveled has multiplied knowledge. 11. Much have I seen in my travels, and I know more than I can express. 12. Many times I have been in danger of death, and I was saved by experience. 13. The spirit of those who fear the Lord will live, for their hope is in the one who saves them. 13. This is clarified in v. 14–17.

Sirach 34:14. The one who fears the Lord will not be terrified of anything and will not be afraid, for He is his hope. 15. Blessed is the soul of the one who fears the Lord! Who sustains him, and who is his support? 16. The eyes of the Lord are upon those who love Him. He is a mighty protection and strong support, a shelter from the heat and shelter from the midday sun, a protection from stumbling and a defense from falling; 17. He exalts the soul and enlightens the eyes, gives healing, life, and blessing. 18. One who brings a sacrifice from unjust gain—his offering is mocked, and the gifts of the wicked are not acceptable; 19. the Most High does not look with favor on the offerings of the wicked and does not atone for their sins by a multitude of sacrifices. 20. As one who slays a son before his father, so is one who brings an offering from the property of the poor. 20. This is clarified in v. 21–22.

Sirach 34:21. The bread of the needy is the life of the poor: one who deprives them of it is a bloodshedder. 22. One murders a neighbor who takes away their sustenance, and one sheds blood who deprives a worker of their wage. 23. When one builds and another tears down: what do they gain except toil? 24. When one prays and another curses, whose voice will the Master hear? 25. When someone washes from defilement by a dead body and then touches it again, what does his washing benefit? 23–25. These are clarified in v. 26. One cannot build and at the same time tear down what is being built, pray for someone and at the same time curse them, wash from defilement and at the same time touch that which defiles, repent of sins and at once repeat them.

Sirach 34:26. So too is a person who fasts for their sins and then goes and does the same things again: who will hear their prayer? And what benefit will they gain from humbling themselves?