Chapter Forty-One

Bodily death is the natural fate of all flesh. Fear not death, but a sinful line and shameful name during life and after death. Be not ashamed of wisdom, but of lack of understanding.

Sirach 41:1. O, death! how bitter is the remembrance of you for a man who peacefully lives in his possessions, Sirach 41:2. for a man who is anxious about nothing and in all things is happy and still strong enough to take food. Sirach 41:3. O, death! welcome is your sentence for a man in need and faint in strength, Sirach 41:4. for the elderly man and burdened with care about everything, for one without hope and who has lost patience. Sirach 41:5. Do not fear the sentence of death: remember your ancestors and descendants. This is the sentence of the Lord over all flesh. Sirach 41:6. Then, why do you turn away from what is pleasing to the Most High? ten or a hundred or a thousand years, – Sirach 41:7. in the underworld there is no inquiry about the length of life. Verses 6–7. It is unwise to turn away from what is pleasing to the Most High, especially since the law of death must inevitably be fulfilled sooner or later, and in the underworld, the posthumous existence of man, where time has no measure, what matters is not the quantity of years lived by man (ten or a hundred or a thousand years), but how he lived these years.

Sirach 41:8. The children of sinners are abominable children and consort with the ungodly. Sirach 41:9. The inheritance of sinners’ children will perish, and disgrace will spread with their family. Sirach 41:10. An ungodly father will be reproached by his children, for they suffer disgrace because of him. Sirach 41:11. Woe to you, ungodly men, who have forsaken the law of God the Most High! Sirach 41:12. When you are born, you are born under a curse; and when you die, you receive a curse as your lot. Sirach 41:13. All that is from the earth will return to the earth: so the ungodly – from a curse to destruction. Verse 13. Just as all that is from the earth will return to the earth; so all those evil deeds and acts of sinners, which are branded by a curse already at the moment of their arising, will inevitably lead stubborn impious men to their destruction.

Sirach 41:14. The mourning of men is for their bodies, but the name of sinners and the wicked will be blotted out. Sirach 41:15. Care for your name, for it will remain with you longer than many thousands of gold: Sirach 41:16. the days of a good life have a number, but a good name will abide forever. Sirach 41:17. Keep, children, the instruction in peace; and hidden wisdom and an invisible treasure – what benefit is there in them? Sirach 41:18. Better is a man who hides his foolishness than a man who hides his wisdom. Sirach 41:19. Therefore, be ashamed of what I will say, Verses 17–19. Be truly ashamed: ashamed where you ought to be ashamed – when committing something morally shameful or foolish; and have courage not to be ashamed where there is no shame – when observing the laws of good morality and the rules of wisdom.

Sirach 41:20. for not every shame is good to keep, and not everything is approved by all truly. Sirach 41:21. Be ashamed before father and mother of fornication, before a ruler and a lord – of a lie; Sirach 41:22. before a judge and a prince – of transgression, before the assembly and people – of lawlessness; Sirach 41:23. before a companion and friend – of injustice, before neighbors – of theft: Sirach 41:24. be ashamed of this and also before the truth of God and His covenant. And be ashamed of leaning on the table, of deception in lending and giving; Sirach 41:25. be ashamed of silence before those who greet you, of gazing at a lewd woman, of turning your face from a kinsman, Sirach 41:26. of taking away a portion and a gift, of thinking about a married woman, of courting your maidservant, Sirach 41:27. and do not approach her bed; Sirach 41:28. before friends be ashamed of insulting words, – and after you have given, do not reproach, – Sirach 41:29. of repeating rumors and spreading secret words. And you will be truly ashamed and will win the favor of every man.