Sirach 41

1O death, how bitter is your remembrance to a man at ease in his possessions, to a man untroubled and prospering in everything, and still strong enough to enjoy pleasure.

2O death, how fitting is your sentence for a man who is needy and lacking strength, stumbling in everything, defiant, and having lost hope.

3Do not fear the decree of your death; remember that those before and those after are with you.

4This is the lot of all flesh from God, so why reject the decree of the Most High? Whether for a thousand years, or a hundred, or ten, there is no rebuke of life in Sheol.

5The children of the despised are an evil thing, and the offspring of a fool are in the terror of the wicked.

6The dominion of evil is from the child of injustice, and disgrace is always with his offspring.

7The children of a wicked father are cursed, for because of him they are a disgrace.

8Woe to you, wicked men, who have abandoned the law of the Most High.

9And if you are born, you will be born for a curse; and if you die, you will be allotted to a curse.

10Everything from nothing returns to nothing; so the ungodly go from emptiness to emptiness.

11A man's body is vanity, but a gracious name will not be cut off.

12Be concerned for your name, for it will go with you more than a thousand stores of wisdom.

13The good of life is a limited number of days, but the good of a name is days without number.

14Hidden wisdom and a concealed treasure—what benefit is there in either of them?

15Better is a man who hides his folly than a man who hides his wisdom; instruction is shame.

16Instruction in shame: hear, sons, and be ashamed according to my judgments. Not every shame is fitting to keep, and not every disgrace is rightly chosen.

17Be ashamed before father and mother for sexual immorality, and before a ruler in office for lying.

18Before a master and mistress, be ashamed of a lie; before an assembly and the people, of transgression; before a companion and a friend, of wrongdoing; and where you sojourn, of theft.

19for violating an oath and a covenant, and for leaning with your elbow over the bread.

20Be ashamed of refusing a request, and of turning away the face of your neighbor.

21of staring at the face of another man’s wife, and of drawing near to her maidservant.

22for a friend, over words of reproach; and after giving a gift to a brother, do not reproach him.