Chapter Seven
Do not do evil, and evil will not overtake you. Do not seek exaltation. Do not multiply your sins. Be merciful. Do not bear false witness; do not speak idly. Labor. Be faithful to friendship. Respect and value a wise and good wife; do not mistreat a hard-working servant; care for your livestock; be concerned with the education of your children; honor your father and mother. Love your Creator with all your strength and do not abandon his servants. Always remember your end, and you will never sin forever.
Sirach 7:1. Do not do evil, and evil will not overtake you; Sirach 7:2. keep away from injustice, and it will turn away from you. Sirach 7:3. My son! do not sow on the furrows of injustice, and you will not reap from them seven times more. Sirach 7:4. Do not ask the Lord for power, and do not ask the king for an honored place. Sirach 7:5. Do not justify yourself before the Lord, and do not display wisdom before the king. Sirach 7:6. Do not desire to become a judge, so that you might not have the power to overturn injustice, so that you might not fear the face of the strong at some point and not place a shadow on your integrity. Sirach 7:7. Do not sin against the community of the city, and do not demean yourself before the people. Sirach 7:8. Do not add sin to sin, for even for one you will not go unpunished. Sirach 7:9. Do not say: “He will regard the multitude of my gifts, and when I bring them to God the Most High, He will accept them. 9. External worship not united with the internal does not have full meaning in the sight of the Lord. With external sacrifices offered on external altars, there must be united internal sacrifices of love for God and neighbor, offered by a person on the altar of his heart. Compare Ps 50:19; Isa 1.
Sirach 7:10. Do not lose heart in your prayer, and do not neglect to give alms. Sirach 7:11. Do not mock a person in the bitterness of his soul; for there is one who humbles and one who exalts. Sirach 7:12. Do not devise lies against your brother, and do not do the same against a friend. Sirach 7:13. Do not desire to speak any kind of lie; for the repetition of it will not serve for good. Sirach 7:14. Do not be very talkative before an assembly of elders, and do not repeat your words in your petition. 14. Do not be tedious and talkative.
Sirach 7:15. Do not turn away from difficult work and from agriculture, which was appointed by the Most High. Sirach 7:16. Do not associate with a multitude of sinners. Sirach 7:17. Deeply humble your soul. Sirach 7:18. Remember that wrath will not delay, Sirach 7:19. that the punishment of the ungodly is fire and worm. Sirach 7:20. Do not exchange a friend for treasure, and a brother of the same blood for the gold of Ophir. Sirach 7:21. Do not abandon a wise and good wife, for her worth is more precious than gold. Sirach 7:22. Do not mistreat a slave who labors diligently, nor a hired servant devoted to you with his whole heart. Sirach 7:23. Let your soul love a wise slave, and do not refuse him his freedom. Sirach 7:24. Do you have livestock? care for it, and if it is profitable for you, let it remain with you. Sirach 7:25. Do you have sons? teach them, and from childhood bend their necks. 25. Compare Sir 30:12.
Sirach 7:26. Do you have daughters? have care for their bodily health and do not show them a cheerful face. 26. Have care for their bodily health, that is, for their physical health and safety. And do not show them a cheerful face, that is, conduct yourself with them in such a way as not to lose your parental authority in their eyes.
Sirach 7:27. Marry off your daughter, and you will do a great deed, and give her to a wise husband. Sirach 7:28. Do you have a wife to your liking? do not send her away. Sirach 7:29. Honor your father with all your heart, and do not forget the birth pangs of your mother. Sirach 7:30. Remember that you were born of them: and what can you repay them, as they have repaid you? Sirach 7:31. Revere the Lord with all your soul, and respect his priests. Sirach 7:32. Love your Creator with all your strength, and do not abandon his servants. Sirach 7:33. Fear the Lord, and honor the priest, and give him his portion, as it has been commanded you: Sirach 7:34. the first fruits, and the offering for sin, and the shoulder piece, and the offering of sanctification, and the first fruits of the holy things. 34. These are sacrificial offerings made by the Hebrews for the benefit of the priests and Levites, in accordance with the requirements of the Law of Moses (see the notes to the book of Leviticus).
Sirach 7:35. And extend your hand to the poor, so that your blessing may be complete. Sirach 7:36. Let mercy in giving be for every living creature, and do not deprive the dead of mercy. Sirach 7:37. Do not abstain from those who weep, and grieve with those who grieve. Sirach 7:38. Do not be lazy in visiting the sick, for by this you will be loved. Sirach 7:39. In all your works remember your end, and you will never sin forever. 39. Remembrance of death and the coming retribution should serve for a person as a constant warning against sinful indulgences.