Sirach 18

1The one who lives forever created all things at once.

2The Lord alone will be declared righteous.

3He has allowed no one to proclaim his works.

4And who can search out his mighty deeds?

5Who can number the might of his majesty? And who can add to recounting his mercies?

6It is not possible to diminish or to add, and it is not possible to trace out the wonders of the Lord.

7When a man has finished, then he is just beginning; and when he stops, then he will be at a loss.

8What is a man, and what is his use? What is his good, and what is his evil?

9The number of a man's days is many years: a hundred.

10Like a drop of water from the sea and a grain of sand, so are a few years in the day of eternity.

11Therefore the Lord was patient with them, and poured out his mercy upon them.

12He saw and recognized that their destruction was evil; therefore he multiplied his atonement for them.

13A man's mercy is for his neighbor, but the Lord's mercy is for all flesh; he rebukes and disciplines and teaches and turns back his flock like a shepherd.

14He has mercy on those who accept discipline, and on those who eagerly hasten to his judgments.

15My child, in good things do not add reproach, nor in any gift grief of words.

16Before you make a vow, prepare your vow, and do not be like one who tests Yahweh.

17Is not a word better than a good gift? And both are with a gracious man.

18A foolish ingrate reproaches, and the gift of an envious man wears out the eyes.

19Before you speak, learn; and before sickness, seek treatment.

20Before judgment, examine yourself, and in the hour of visitation you will find atonement.

21Before you become sick, humble yourself, and in the time of sins show repentance.

22Do not be hindered from paying a vow in due time, and do not wait until death to be justified.

23Before you pray, prepare yourself, and do not be like a man testing the Lord.

24Remember wrath in the days of your end, and the time of vengeance at the turning away of the face.

25Remember the time of famine in the time of plenty, and poverty and need in the days of wealth.

26From morning until evening the time changes, and all things are swift before the Lord.

27A wise man will be cautious in everything, and in days of sins he will beware of wrongdoing.

28Every prudent man has recognized wisdom, and to the one who found her he will give praise.

29Those who are prudent in words also became wise, and they poured forth precise proverbs.

30Do not go after your desires, and restrain yourself from your cravings;

31If you grant your soul the pleasure it desires, it will make you a joy to your enemies.

32Do not delight in a mere scrap of pleasure, for its end is poverty.

33Do not be a glutton and a drunkard, when there is nothing in your purse.