SIRACH
TO THE READER

EDITION OF THE GREEK TEXT

The book of Sirach actually has three different titles, depending on the language of its transmission or the religious tradition that reads it. In Hebrew the book is known as The Wisdom of Joshua (Jesus) Ben Sira. In the Vulgate, the book is called Ecclesiasticus (the church’s book). In the Jewish-Greek scriptures and for NETS, the title is that given above, Sirach. For Sirach, I have used the Göttingen edition of Joseph Ziegler (Septuaginta: Vetus Testamentum Graecum Auctoritate Academiae Litterarum Gottingensis editum XII.2: Sapientia Iesu Filii Sirach [Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1965]). In his critical text, Ziegler places verses from a later Greek recension (GKII; see below) in smaller typeface, and I have followed his judgments as to what constitutes GKII. As a result, I have punctuated the entire consecutive text, including the GKII. In some cases, if the reader skips over the GKII, the punctuation might not make the best English sense, since it relies on the presence of the additional verses. All the Greek manuscripts extant for Sirach contain a textual displacement in which the order of 30.25–33.13a and 33.13b–36.16a is reversed. Ziegler has placed the Greek in the correct order. The NRSV along with Patrick W. Skehan’s and Alexander Di Lella’s Anchor Bible commentary follow Ziegler in giving the text in its proper order. In the NETS translation, I have followed suit, and I give the chapter and verse numbers following the correct order with the chapter and verse numbers of the Greek in its displaced order in parentheses.

One feature of Ziegler’s edition is the frequency of reconstructions of an original Greek text that nowhere exists in the Greek manuscript tradition. Usually Ziegler takes his cue from Alfred Rahlfs or Rudolph Smend in deciding that the entire Greek tradition is a corruption of a no-longer-extant Greek original. I have followed Ziegler in almost every case. For example, NETS for Sir 3.17 reads, “Child, in gentleness conduct your affairs, and you will be loved more than a person who gives,” which reflects Ziegler’s text, , instead of the majority of the Greek tradition, which reads “by an acceptable person.” Ziegler has adopted this conjecture from Smend, who, based on the Hebrew texts and the Latin version, concluded that the Greek manuscript tradition preserved a corruption. The NRSV seems to depend here on the Greek manuscript tradition, although it has glossed the verse, apparently to wring some meaning out of it.

THE HEBREW AND GREEK TEXTS OF BEN SIRA

The textual situation of the Wisdom of Ben Sira, notably the often confused and fragmentary state of the Hebrew manuscripts, created some unique difficulties for this translation. Hebrew texts of Ben Sira are extant for about two-thirds of the book. Portions of chapters 39–44 survive in the Masada manuscript, which dates from the first century BCE. 2Q18 contains the remains of several lines, and 11QPs^a preserves a number of verses from chapter 51. The most extensive extant Hebrew sections are found in the six fragmentary manuscripts (designated A–F) discovered in the Cairo Geniza. On occasion the contents of these manuscripts overlap, but more often only one manuscript preserves any given passage from Ben Sira in Hebrew. The Hebrew manuscripts do, however, seem, in their essentials, to preserve the Hebrew of Ben Sira but not without numerous mistakes, additions and corruptions. The ultimate effect of this situation on the NETS translation is simply to make comparison between the Hebrew and Greek for matters such as vocabulary consistency, lexical choice and other elements of translation technique much more difficult to isolate and characterize.

As a result of the Hebrew textual situation, I have had to approach the translation of this book more from the perspective of a book like 1 Makkabees, which was translated from Hebrew but for which no Hebrew survives into modernity. Part of the reason for this approach is the inconsistency of the translator for various aspects of his work. The practical impact on the reader is that my translation differs from the NRSV quite frequently, probably more than for those books that have the MT as a basis of comparison. Moreover, whereas the NRSV attempts to present the reader with, as much as possible, an Ur-Text of the book, NETS is interested solely in its Greek translation. The Hebrew texts become relevant only to the extent that the source text can arbitrate between competing readings and interpretations of the target text and can, furthermore, account for the kind of Greek found in the translation.

One additional matter that both the NETS translation of Ben Sira and the NRSV had to deal with was the presence of the later Greek recension. In the process of the textual transmission of the Greek, a number of proverbs were added to the book, and this recension is usually designated GKII. For the most part, the NRSV puts readings from this Greek recension in footnotes leaving in the main text only GKI (= OG), that is, the translation of the author’s grandson, who rendered the Hebrew text into Greek. In the NETS translation, I have worked in analogous fashion both to Ziegler and to how NETS has handled similar cases elsewhere. GKII passages appear in the running text where they should be located. I have set them off by (a) marking them with square brackets at the beginning and end of each line and (b) by placing them in italics. Manuscript 248, one of the most important manuscript witnesses for GKII, contains an alternative prologue to the original translation, which Ziegler places in smaller typeface following the prologue of Ben Sira’s grandson. The alternative prologue is not included in NETS. The decision to exclude it was based on several factors. First, it only appears in Ms 248 and in no other Greek text. Second, although of considerable importance, Ms 248 does not contain all of the GKII readings for Sirach. Consequently, this prologue was probably not intended to introduce any GKII “recension.” Finally, according to Ziegler (66), the prologue stems from a work entitled Synopsis Scripturae Sacrae, falsely attributed to the Egyptian church father Athanasius.

TRANSLATION PROFILE OF THE GREEK

When one compares the Greek of the Prologue with that of the translation, one will see a tremendous difference between the two. The Prologue is written in good, literary style. The translation, on the other hand, looks to have been executed in a generally isomorphic manner, and it thus mirrors many aspects of its Hebrew source text. I hope that the qualitative difference between the Greek of the Prologue and the frequently unidiomatic, even awkward Greek of the translation will be readily apparent to the NETS reader. In general, the conclusions that I gave concerning the relationship between the Hebrew and Greek of Sirach in my 1989 study of translation technique (No Small Difference: Sirach’s Relationship to Its Hebrew Parent Text [SBLSCS 26; Atlanta: Scholars, 1989]) still hold, it seems to me.

Here I make some general remarks about the Greek translation that illustrate its character. First, the isomorphic approach of the grandson to the process of translation means that he, like most of the translators of the LXX/OG corpus, does try to keep close to the Hebrew word order and, for the most part, he maintains a quantitative parity with his parent text. One finds in this translation, then, a number of aspects of the translation that suggest that the translator was working essentially in an interlinear way; that is, the Greek could be seen as a kind of “pony” to the Hebrew, since the translator often reproduces many aspects of the grammatical form of the Hebrew in the translation. In some cases, however, a perfectly acceptable feature of Greek might also serve the agenda of isomorphism. One example illustrates the case well. The Hebrew of Ben Sira uses several circumlocutions for possession, most of which involve some use of the dative. So, 3.22b reads in Hebrew (Ms A), “You have no business with hidden things.” Rather than take the clause as a whole and render the Hebrew idiom for possession, , by using some standard Greek verb such as , the translator simply follows the Hebrew word-for-word, . While one might be tempted to translate this Greek with something like “For there is for you no need for hidden matters,” Greek can also indicate possession through the use of a dative with the verb to be, the so-called dative of possession. As a result, according to NETS principles (see “TO THE READER OF NETS”) normal Greek idiom means normal English idiom. Thus, I have translated cases like this one using the normal English verb “have,” and 3.22 appears in NETS as “for you have no need of hidden matters.”

Second, the translator’s word-by-word approach to his work also means that various parts of speech get transferred from Hebrew directly into Greek. The result is that Hebrew participles generally become Greek participles; Hebrew prepositions become Greek prepositions, etc. The most common difficulty produced by this translational practice is that prepositions will oftentimes get used in ways that are foreign to their uses in standard Greek, and often they can be found in strange contexts. They frequently appear as part of an object complement to a verb for which they are not suited in standard Greek, or they get used in non-Greek contexts. , for example, often renders the Hebrew preposition in places where in Hebrew the preposition functions to indicate the comparative, even though it does not normally have that function in Greek. In 7.19 the Greek “her grace is beyond gold” renders “grace more than pearls.” Other than the lexical shift from “pearls” to “gold,” the translator has employed in a context for which it is not normally used outside of the LXX/OG corpus.

Third, even though the translator worked in essentially a word-for-word manner, he does not exhibit a tendency to confine one Greek lexeme to the same Hebrew lexeme. So, for instance, the noun “joy, exultation” renders three different Hebrew terms— (31.26), (6.31) and (30.23). On the other side of the coin, one Hebrew word might have several different Greek equivalents. In fact, there is enough semantic differentiation that one can rarely reconstruct, on the basis of the existing Hebrew-Greek equivalences, what the Hebrew lexical items in the parent text were in those sections of Sirach where Hebrew does not survive. Illustrative is the Hebrew verb , “withhold, hold back,” which is never rendered twice with the same word. The various Greek equivalents are: (12.7), (7.33), (14.14), (32.3), (4.23), (4.3), (7.21) and (14.4).

Within the translator’s general policy of isomorphism, there are occasionally times when he seems to engage in an interpretive move. In most cases, he is confronting a text that seems to baffle him. For example, in 49.2, part of the section about Iosias (Josiah), the grandson apparently did not understand the clause “for he was sickened/grieved at our apostasies.” Although the resulting Greek has an almost one-to-one correspondence with the Hebrew on a purely formal level, it looks like the translator recognized the root in the word as coming from the Hebrew verb meaning “return, turn back.” He thus interpreted the entire clause, probably on the basis of his identification of , as “He prospered in turning around the people.” The Greek, although it does not accurately translate the Hebrew, makes good contextual sense in a passage about Josiah.

Given the examples above, it should not be a surprise to note that the Greek does not contain a high number of calques or even thoroughly stereotyped renderings, although some cases do present difficulties for the NETS translator. One particularly interesting case is the Greek-Hebrew equivalence – . The Greek translates the Hebrew five times (9.16; 10.22; 44.7; 45.8; 50.11) and the related noun translates the Hebrew term once (31.10). Both Greek words indicate some kind of “boasting.” Yet, the primary lexical meaning of is “splendor, beauty, glory,” and only as a subsidiary meaning related to “glory” does the Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew lexicon list “boasting.” Even though the Greek-Hebrew equivalence seems fixed for the translator, there does not seem to be any warrant for ascribing the meaning of “splendor” or “beauty” to the two related Greek words. As far as Sirach is concerned, they retain their Greek meaning, and they are translated in NETS as “boast” and “boasting.”

The Greek representations of the Hebrew present a more difficult case, particularly when it is used in Hebrew with a personal pronoun to mean “him/her/itself”—so, for instance, “himself.” The Greek translator usually prefers to give a rather awkward and wooden rendering into Greek, , “his soul.” The Greek phrase, although it represents each element in the Hebrew phrase, does not normally mean “himself” in Greek, although the word can have the sense of one’s “self.” Hence in the NETS translation of Sirach, I render this wooden representation of the Hebrew “his/her/their soul.” The translator did have at his disposal a perfectly good and idiomatic Greek word to indicate the reflexive, , which he, in fact, uses in 37.8c, where translates . There are quite a number of individual instances of Hebraistic renderings such as this in the Greek translation and almost none take on the meaning of the Hebrew. They are simply overly wooden renderings. Sir 35.12 offers another prime example of a normal Hebrew idiom being rendered into a stilted and essentially meaningless Greek. Here “with generosity” becomes quite woodenly in Greek “with a good eye.”

Interestingly, one of the terms that is clearly a calque in almost the entirety of the Jewish-Greek translation corpus, “covenant” as a translation of , is not one for the translator of Ben Sira, who uses the word for both and (in both technical and non-technical contexts). This situation presents some difficulty for the English translator. Ben Sira’s grandson has leveled the meanings of the two Hebrew words. He has used the same Greek for both Hebrew nouns, for which he intended the meaning “covenant,” and NETS reflects that meaning in all the cases of the Greek noun. In some cases, however, the use of changes the sense of the underlying Hebrew. Sirach 11.20 encourages the student to “stand by your agreement,” . The Greek sou “stand by your covenant” might suggest that the translator understood the Greek term in its usual sense of “testament,” or he simply uses the now technical Greek term in a non-technical context. In 42.2, however, as a translation of seems more definitely to change the sense of the Hebrew parent text. As part of a list of things that should not cause shame for the student, the Hebrew has “of the law of the Most High and of the statute.” The Greek, “of the law of the Most High and covenant,” broadens the focus considerably—from some unspecified statute to the entirety of God’s covenant with Israel. Finally, 44.20, in the section on Abraam (Abraham), renders both and , thus, at the least, masking the intention of the Hebrew original.

Hebrew (Ms B and Masada):

Translation: “And he [God] entered into a covenant with him; in his flesh he made for him a statute.”¹

Greek:

NETS: “and he entered in a covenant with him; in his flesh he established a covenant.”

In this verse, the “statute” almost certainly means the law of circumcision for all of Abraam’s descendants. The Greek, however, completely levels the semantic difference of the Hebrew between the “covenant” that God makes and the “statute” that God establishes “in his flesh.”

THE NETS TRANSLATION OF SIRACH

Since elsewhere in the NETS corpus, the English translators have worked with the general dictum vis-àvis the NRSV “Change what you must, and keep what you can,” several specific comments on the relationship of NETS Sirach to the NRSV are in order. There are a number of ways that the NETS translation of Sirach differs routinely from that in the NRSV. Many of the differences between NETS and NRSV result from the different purposes of the translations. The NRSV intends to produce a faithful translation in nicely idiomatic and fluid English—a purpose it accomplishes well. Sirach, however, is also somewhat unique among the NRSV translations. The NRSV “Old Testament” is translated from Hebrew, the original language of the various books, into English, but the NRSV Sirach, because of its transmission history, is already, in large part, a translation of a translation. The NRSV cannot translate the Hebrew, because it is incomplete and the text is frequently corrupt, and the Greek, which it does translate for the most part, is itself a translation. This approach produces two results that affect the NETS translation. First, although it primarily relies on the Greek, the NRSV uses an eclectic approach to the text. That is, the translator is interested in using the best, most original text possible. For Sirach, that might mean a preference for the Latin or the Syriac or the Hebrew rather than for the Greek. In places where the NRSV relies on the Hebrew or one of the other daughter translations, NETS will almost certainly be different, since it translated the best Greek text available. Second, in giving a fluid English translation, the English of the NRSV necessarily in many cases erases the awkwardness of the Greek. NETS, which is more intent on reflecting the translationese character of the Greek, requires a different approach, and in many cases I attempt to retain the awkwardness of the Greek that the NRSV has smoothed over. Moreover, exegetical openness, that is, rendering the Greek text as carefully as possible for what it says, is deemed in and of itself a virtue.

My basic approach in the NETS translation of Sirach is to provide the English reader with as much information as possible about the character of the Greek and the relationship between the Hebrew (where it exists) and its Greek translation. Essentially, what this means for the reader of NETS is that my translation of Sirach is more independent of the NRSV than is the case for other NETS translations. The following paragraphs explain my approach to selected aspects of the NETS translation, and in these ways NETS will typically depart from the NRSV.

(a) For the most part, where possible, I have tried to represent the poetic form of the verses as much as possible. The Greek, by trying to represent the Hebrew word order, often reproduces the poetic structure of the Hebrew text. That is, if two Hebrew cola have the structure, verb-subject-object, subject-verb-object, the Greek will very often keep that order. I have tried to do the same in NETS where the rules of English permit and where no hardship for the reader results. This often results in an English word order different from NRSV. Thus, for example, NETS at 1.27, “For wisdom and education are the fear of the Lord, and his delight is fidelity and gentleness,” differs from NRSV, “For the fear of the Lord is wisdom and discipline, fidelity and humility are his delight” because the Greek (which most likely represents the Hebrew word order) has the parallelism A:B:B’:A’, which I have kept in NETS. This procedure does not represent dissatisfaction with NRSV; I operate this way in order to provide the English reader of NETS as much information about the relationship between the Greek and Hebrew texts as possible.

(b) The reader of NETS will find that the vocabulary choices in many places differ from the NRSV. Although a high level of stereotyping does not characterize the translation of Sirach, the translator does seem to have a corpus of words that he uses consistently for particular Hebrew words. In such cases, I have maintained that consistency as much as possible in NETS. Sometimes the translator will maintain a high level of lexical consistency in individual poetic units. Where such consistency occurs, NETS is also consistent in its use of English vocabulary. On the other hand, where the NRSV uses the same English word for different Greek words in a poetic unit, I have used English synonyms to indicate to the reader that the Greek words are not the same.

(c) As I noted above, in many instances the Greek translator tries hard to maintain a one-for-one translation of the Hebrew. This technique produces several different results. Sometimes one encounters one word in Greek for one word in Hebrew. In those places where the Greek translator appears to be concerned about this type of lexical representation, I have tried to be as well. This usually means translating a single Greek word by a single English word. The translator, however, might also try to reproduce on a one-to-one basis the word order or even the grammatical form of the Hebrew. So, for example, the relationship between verbal tenses grates against the ear, or the lack of the definite article where one would expect it in standard Greek produces a strange sounding phrase. The resulting Greek is frequently stilted and awkward. In such cases I have tried as best I can within the bounds of acceptable English to represent in NETS the awkwardness of the Greek of Sirach. A couple of short examples will illustrate the nature of the case. In 13.22, the first stich of the verse uses the present tense to describe the help given to a rich person, “when a rich person staggers, many are his helpers.” Yet, the second switches to the aorist, rendered into the past tense in English, “he spoke things not to be spoken, and they justified him.” With respect to the article, the Greek translation very frequently employs anarthrous nouns, which creates at best some ambiguity and at worst some real difficulty. So, for instance, in Simon II’s temple service described in chapter 50, we read “when he stood by altar’s (or “an altar’s”) hearth.” It seems clear that the altar in the Jerusalem temple is intended, but the lack of the article here introduces some awkwardness and ambiguity that the definite article would have easily resolved.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Several resources proved of tremendous value in preparing this NETS translation. For the Hebrew text of Sirach, I consulted primarily Z. ben-Hayyim, The Book of Ben Sira: Text, Concordance and an Analysis of the Vocabulary (Jerusalem: Academy of the Hebrew Language and the Shrine of the Book, 1973) and P. C. Beentjes, The Book of Ben Sira in Hebrew (Leiden: Brill, 1997) in addition to many shorter studies on individual aspects of the Hebrew text. Besides the NRSV, the translation produced by Patrick W. Skehan and Alexander A. Di Lella for their Anchor Bible Commentary, The Wisdom of Ben Sira (AB 39; Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1987) proved a valuable aid. I benefited enormously from their commentary as well. The commentary of M. H. Segal, (Jerusalem: Bialik Foundation, 1958) also provided numerous insights into the different textual traditions in which Sirach survives.

BENJAMIN G. WRIGHT

PROLOGUE

(1) Seeing that many and great things have been given to us through the Law and the Prophets and the others that followed them, for which reason it is necessary to commend Israel for education and wisdom, and whereas it is necessary that not only those who read them gain understanding, ⁽⁵⁾but also that those who love learning be capable of service to outsiders, both when they speak and when they write, Iesous, my grandfather, since he had given himself increasingly both to the reading of the Law and the Prophets ⁽¹⁰⁾and the other ancestral books and since he had acquired considerable proficiency in them, he too was led to compose something pertaining to education and wisdom in order that lovers of learning, when they come under their^a sway as well, might gain much more in living by the law.

(15) You are invited, therefore, to a reading with goodwill and attention, and to exercise forbearance in cases where we may be thought ⁽²⁰⁾to be insipid with regard to some expressions that have been the object of great care in rendering; for what was originally expressed in Hebrew does not have the same force when it is in fact rendered in another language. And not only in this case, but also in the case of the Law itself and the Prophets ⁽²⁵⁾and the rest of the books the difference is not small when these are expressed in their own language.

For in the thirty-eighth year, in the reign of Euergetes the king, when I had arrived in Egypt and stayed a while, when I had discovered an exemplar of no little education, ⁽³⁰⁾I myself too made it a most compulsory task to bring some speed and industry to the translating of this tome, meanwhile having contributed much sleeplessness and skill, with the aim of bringing the book to completion and to publish it also for those living abroad if they wish to become learned, preparing their character to live by the law.

1 All wisdom is from the Lord,
and with him it exists forever.

² Sand of seas and drops of rain
and days of eternity—who shall
         enumerate?

³ The sky’s height and earth’s breadth
and abyss and wisdom—who will
         track?

⁴ Before all things wisdom has been created,
and understanding of prudence is from
         eternity.

[5 Wisdom’s spring is God’s word in the highest,]
[and her journeys are everlasting
         commandments.]

⁶ Wisdom’s root—to whom was it
         revealed?
And her wondrous feats—who knew?

[7 Wisdom’s skill—to whom was it manifested?]
[And her great experience—who has
         understood it?]

⁸ One who is wise, greatly feared,
seated upon his throne.

⁹ The Lord, he created her,
and he saw and enumerated her
and poured her out upon all his works,

¹⁰ among all flesh according to his giving,
and he furnished her abundantly to those
         who love him.

[Loving the Lord is esteemed wisdom,]

[but to whomever he appears, he apportions
her as a vision of himself.]

¹¹ Fear of the Lord is reputation and
         boasting
and gladness and a garland of rejoicing.

¹² Fear of the Lord will delight the heart,
and it will give gladness and joy and
         length of days.

[Fear of the Lord is a gift from the Lord,]

[for he also establishes paths for love.]

¹³ For the one who fears the Lord, it will be
         well at the end,

and in the day of his death he will be
blessed.

¹⁴ Wisdom’s beginning is to fear the Lord,
and with the faithful in the womb—she
         was created together with them.

¹⁵ Among human beings she built her nest as
         an eternal foundation,

and among their offspring she will be
trusted.

¹⁶ Wisdom’s fullness is to fear the Lord,
and she inebriates them with her fruits.

¹⁷ Their every house she will fill with desirable
         things,

and the ^areception halls^a from her
produce.

¹⁸ Wisdom’s garland is fear of the Lord,
sprouting peace and well-being for
         healing.

[And both are gifts of God for peace,]

[and boasting creates space for those that love
him.]

¹⁹ [And he saw and enumerated her.]

Skill and knowledge of understanding
she rained down,

and the reputation of people who hold
her fast she exalted.

²⁰ Wisdom’s root is to fear the Lord,
and her branches are length of days.

[21 The fear of the Lord repels sins,]

[and when it endures, it will turn away all
wrath.]

²² Unjust anger can never be justified,
for the weight of his^b anger is his^b
         downfall.

²³ Until the right time a patient person will
         restrain himself,

and afterwards gladness will pay him
back.

²⁴ Until the right time he will hide his words,
and the lips of many will tell of his
         discernment.

²⁵ Among wisdom’s treasures there is
         illustration of intelligence,

but godliness is an abomination to a
sinner.

²⁶ If you desire wisdom, keep the
         commandments,

and the Lord will furnish her abundantly
to you.

²⁷ For wisdom and education are the fear of
         the Lord,
and his delight is fidelity and gentleness.

²⁸ Do not disobey the fear of the Lord,
and do not approach him^c with a double
         heart.

²⁹ Do not be a hypocrite in the mouths of
         humankind,
and with your lips pay heed.

³⁰ Do not exalt yourself, lest you fall
and bring dishonor to your soul,

and the Lord will reveal your secrets,
and in the midst of a gathering he will
         overthrow you,

because you did not approach in the fear of
         the Lord
and your heart was full of deceit.

2 Child, if you come to be subject to the Lord,
prepare your soul for testing.

² Set straight your heart, and be steadfast,
and do not be hasty in a time of distress.

³ Cling to him, and do not stand aloof
so that you may be strengthened at your
         end.

⁴ Anything that might happen to you accept,
and in the vicissitudes of your
         humiliation be patient,

⁵ because with fire gold is tested,
and acceptable people in the furnace of
         humiliation.

[In sickness and in poverty have trust in
him.]

⁶ Have faith in him, and he will support you,
and make straight your ways, and hope in
         him.

⁷ You who fear the Lord, wait for his mercy,
and do not turn away, lest you fall.

⁸ You who fear the Lord, have faith in him,
and your wage will not be forfeited.

⁹ You who fear the Lord, hope for good
         things
and for everlasting gladness and mercy,

[because his repayment is an everlasting gift
with joy.]

¹⁰ Look to ancient generations, and see;
who had faith in the Lord and was put to
         shame?

Or who has held fast to fear of him and was
         forsaken?

Or who called upon him, and he^a
despised him?

¹¹ For compassionate and merciful is the Lord,
and he forgives sins and saves in a time
         of affliction.

¹² Woe to timid hearts and to slack hands
and to a sinner when he treads on two
         paths.

¹³ Woe to a faint heart, because it does not
         have faith;
therefore it will not be sheltered.

¹⁴ Woe to you who have lost endurance.
And what will you do when the Lord
         makes his reckoning?

¹⁵ Those who fear the Lord will not disobey
         his words,

and those who love him will preserve his
ways.

¹⁶ Those who fear the Lord will seek his favor,
and those who love him will be filled
         with the law.

¹⁷ Those who fear the Lord will prepare their
         hearts,

and before him they will humble their
souls.

¹⁸ We shall fall into the hands of the Lord
and not into the hands of human beings!

For as his majesty is,
so also is his mercy.

3 Listen to a father’s reproof, children,
and act accordingly so that you may be
         safe.

² For the Lord has glorified father over
         children,

and he has confirmed a mother’s
judgment over sons.

³ He who honors father will atone for sins,

⁴ and like one who lays up treasure is he
         who glorifies his mother.

⁵ He who honors father will be gladdened by
         children,

and in the day of his prayer he will be
heard.

⁶ He who glorifies father will prolong his
         days,

and he who listens to the Lord will give
rest to his mother.

⁷ [He who fears the Lord will honor his father,]
and ^bamong those who begot him he will
         act as a slave to masters^b.

⁸ By deed and word honor your father
so that a blessing from him might come
         upon you.

⁹ For a father’s blessing supports children’s
         houses,
but a mother’s curse uproots foundations.

¹⁰ Do not glorify yourself by your father’s
         disgrace,

for you have no glory in a father’s
disgrace.

¹¹ For a person’s repute comes from his father’s
         honor,

and a mother in ill repute is a reproach to
children.

¹² Child, support your father in old age,
and do not grieve him during his life.

¹³ But if he fails in comprehension, excuse
         him,

and do not dishonor him in the fullness
of your strength.

¹⁴ For charity for a father will not be
         forgotten,
and it will be credited to you against sins.

¹⁵ In a day of affliction it will be remembered
         of you;

as fair weather upon frost, so will your
sins be dissolved.

¹⁶ Like a blasphemer is the one who neglects a
         father,

and cursed by the Lord is the one who
angers his mother.

¹⁷ Child, in gentleness conduct your affairs,
and you will be loved more than a person
         who gives.

¹⁸ The greater you are, the more you should
humble yourself, and before the Lord you will find favor.

[19 Many are lofty and of repute,]
[but to the meek he reveals his mysteries,]

²⁰ because great is the dominance of the Lord
and by the humble he is glorified.

²¹ Things too difficult for you do not seek,
and things too strong for you do not
         scrutinize.

²² The things that have been prescribed for
         you, think about these,
for you have no need of hidden matters.

²³ With matters greater than your affairs do not
         meddle,

for things beyond human understanding
have been shown to you.

²⁴ For their presumption has led many astray,
and their evil fancy has diminished their
         understanding.

[25 If you have no pupils, you will be at a loss for
         light,]

[and when you want for knowledge, do not
profess it.]

²⁶ A hard heart will fare badly at the end,
and he who loves danger will perish in it.

²⁷ A hard heart will be weighed down by
         troubles,

and the sinner will add sin to sins.

²⁸ For the misery of the arrogant there is no
         healing,

because a plant of wickedness has taken
root in him.

²⁹ The heart of the intelligent will think of an
         illustration,
and a hearer’s ear is the desire of the wise.

³⁰ A blazing fire water will extinguish,
and charity will atone for sins.

³¹ He who repays favors gives thought to what
         comes after,

and at the moment of a fall he will find
support.

4 Child, the life of the poor do not defraud,
and do not put off needy eyes.

² A hungry soul do not grieve,
and do not anger a man in his difficulty.

³ An angry heart do not trouble,
and do not delay giving to one in need.

⁴ A suppliant in distress do not keep rejecting,
and do not turn your face away from the
         poor.

⁵ From one who begs do not turn away an
         eye,

and do not give him occasion to curse
you.

⁶ For if one curses you in bitterness of his soul,
the one who made him will hear his
         petition.

⁷ Make yourself beloved to a gathering,
and for a nobleman bow your head.

⁸ Incline your ear to the poor,
and answer him peaceably with
         gentleness.

⁹ Deliver the wronged from the hand of the
         wrongdoer,

and do not be faint-hearted when you
render judgment.

¹⁰ Be like a father to orphans
and instead of a husband to their
         mother,

and you will be like a son of the Most
         High,

and he will love you more than does your
mother.

¹¹ Wisdom will exalt her sons
and lays hold of those who seek her.

¹² He who loves her loves life,
and those who turn to her early will be
         filled with gladness.

¹³ He who holds her fast will inherit a
         reputation,
and where he enters, the Lord blesses.

¹⁴ Those who serve her will minister to one
         holy,
and those who love her the Lord loves.

¹⁵ He who obeys her will judge nations,
and the one who gives heed to her will
         dwell in confidence.

¹⁶ If he has faith, he will inherit her,
and his descendants will be in possession
         ^aof her^a.

¹⁷ Because at first she will travel with him
         though he twist and turn,
fear and dread she will bring upon him,

and she will torment him with her training
until she has faith in his soul,

and she will test him with her statutes.

¹⁸ And again she will return straight back to
         him and will make him glad
and will reveal to him her secrets.

¹⁹ If he goes astray, she will abandon him
and hand him over to the grip of his
         fall.

²⁰ Watch for an opportune time, and beware of
         evil,
and about your soul do not be ashamed.

²¹ For there is a shame that brings on sin,
and there is a shame that is glory and
         favor.

²² Do not receive a person against your soul,
and do not feel embarrassment to your
         fall.

²³ Do not hinder speech in a time of need,
[and do not hide your wisdom in comeliness.]

²⁴ For by speech will wisdom be known,
and education through a word of the
         tongue.

²⁵ Do not speak against the truth,
and concerning your lack of education
         feel shame.

²⁶ Do not be ashamed to acknowledge your
         sins,
and do not try to force a river’s flow.

²⁷ Do not be subject to a foolish person,
and do not accept the person of a ruler.

²⁸ Exert yourself to the death for the truth,
and the Lord God will do battle for you.

²⁹ Do not become rash with your tongue
or sluggish and remiss in your deeds.

³⁰ Do not be like a lion in your home,
even conceiving vain fancies among your
         domestics.

³¹ Do not let your hand be extended to receive
and withdrawn when paying back.

5 Do not be occupied with your money,
and do not say, “I am self-sufficient.”

² Do not follow your soul and your strength,
to walk in your heart’s desires.

³ And do not say, “Who shall hold power over
         me?”

For the Lord, when he punishes, will
punish.

⁴ Do not say, “I sinned, and what has
         happened to me?”
For the Lord is long-suffering.

⁵ Do not become fearless concerning
         atonement,
to add sin upon sins.

⁶ And do not say, “His compassion is great;
it will atone for the multitude of my
         sins”;

for mercy and wrath are with him,
and upon sinners will his anger rest.

⁷ Do not wait to turn back to the Lord,
and do not postpone it day after day;

for suddenly the wrath of the Lord will go
         forth,

and in the time of punishment you will
perish.

⁸ Do not be occupied with ill-gotten money,
for it will not be of benefit in a day of
         distress.

⁹ Do not winnow in every wind,
and do not go on every short cut;
thus is the double-tongued sinner.

¹⁰ Be firm in your understanding,
and let your speech be one.

¹¹ Be quick in your hearing,
and with long-suffering utter a reply.

¹² If you have understanding, answer your
         fellow,

but if not, let your hand be upon your
mouth.

¹³ Repute and dishonor are in speaking,
and a person’s tongue is his downfall.

¹⁴ Do not be called a slanderer,
and do not ambush with your tongue;

for upon the thief is shame
and grievous condemnation upon the
         double-tongued.

¹⁵ In a great and a small matter do not remain
         ignorant.

6 And do not become an enemy instead of a
         friend,

for a bad name will inherit shame and
         reproach;
thus is the double-tongued sinner.

² Do not raise yourself up in your soul’s
         deliberation,

lest your strength be seized as a bull ^ais
seized^a.

³ Your leaves you will devour, and your fruit
         you will destroy,

and you will leave yourself like a
withered tree.

⁴ An evil soul will destroy him who possesses it,
and it will make him a laughingstock of
         enemies.

⁵ A ^bsweet throat^b will multiply its friends,
and a well-speaking tongue will multiply
         courtesies.

⁶ Let those who are at peace with you be
         many,

but let your advisors be one in a
thousand.

⁷ If you acquire a friend, acquire him through
         testing,
and do not have faith in him hastily.

⁸ For there is a friend when it suits him,
and he will not remain in a day of
         affliction.

⁹ And there is a friend who turns to enmity,
and he will disclose strife to your
         disgrace.

¹⁰ And there is a friend who is a table
         companion,

and he will not remain in a day of
affliction.

¹¹ And among your goods he will be as you
         are,

and he will speak boldly to your
domestics.

¹² If you are brought low, he will be against
         you,
and he will hide himself from your face.

¹³ From your enemies, keep your distance,
and with your friends pay heed.

¹⁴ A loyal friend is a sturdy shelter,
and he who finds him has found a
         treasure.

¹⁵ A loyal friend is priceless,
and no one can weigh his worth.

¹⁶ A loyal friend is life’s drug,
and those who fear the Lord will find
         him.

¹⁷ He who fears the Lord directs his friendship
         aright,
because like him, so also is his fellow.

¹⁸ Child, from your youth welcome education,
and until gray hairs you will find
         wisdom.

¹⁹ Like him who plows and him who sows
         approach her,
and wait for her good fruits;

for in cultivation of her you will toil little,
and you will soon eat of her produce.

²⁰ How harsh is wisdom to the uneducated,
and the cowardly will not remain with
         her.

²¹ Like a formidable stone of testing she will
         be upon him,
and he will not delay to cast her aside.

²² For wisdom is like her name,
and she is not conspicuous to many.

²³ Listen, child, and accept my opinion,
and do not reject my counsel.

²⁴ Put your feet into her fetters,
and into her collar, your neck.

²⁵ Offer your shoulder, and carry her,
and do not be offended at her bonds.

²⁶ With all your soul approach her,
and with all your might keep her ways.

²⁷ Trace, and seek, and she will become known
         to you,

and when you get a firm hold, do not let
her go.

²⁸ For in the end you will find her repose,
and she will be changed into gladness for
         you.

²⁹ And her fetters will be a shelter of strength
         for you,
and her collars a robe of glory.

³⁰ For a golden ornament is upon her,
and her bonds are a blue thread.

³¹ You will wear her as a robe of glory,
and you will put her on like a garland of
         joy.

³² If you are willing, child, you will be
         instructed,

and if you surrender your soul, you will
be clever.

³³ If you love to listen, you will receive,
and if you incline your ear, you will be
         wise.

³⁴ Stand in a crowd of elders,
and cling to their wisdom.

³⁵ Be willing to listen to every godly
         discourse,

and do not let proverbs of understanding
escape you.

³⁶ If you see an intelligent person, turn to him
         early,

and let your foot wear out the thresholds
of his doors.

³⁷ Exercise your thought in the Lord’s
         ordinances,

and on his commandments continually
meditate.

It is he who will make your heart firm,
and the desire for wisdom will be given
         to you.

7 Do not do evil things, and an evil will not
         overtake you.

² Stay away from wrong, and it will turn away
         from you.

³ Do not sow in the furrows of injustice,
and you will not reap them^a sevenfold.

⁴ Do not seek from the Lord authority
or from a king a seat of honor.

⁵ Do not assert righteousness before the Lord,
and with a king do not display wisdom.

⁶ Do not seek to become a judge;
you might not have the strength to get rid
         of injustice,

lest you have trepidation in the presence of
         one powerful,

and you shall erect an obstacle to your
uprightness.

⁷ Do not sin against a city’s multitude,
and do not throw yourself down in a
         crowd.

⁸ Do not bind up a sin twice,
for in one you will not be innocent.

⁹ Do not say, “He will have regard for the
         multitude of my gifts,

and when I bring a gift to the Most High
God, he will accept it.”

¹⁰ Do not be fainthearted in your prayer,
and do not neglect to practice charity.

¹¹ Do not deride a person when he is
         embittered in spirit,
for there is one who humbles and exalts.

¹² Do not cultivate a lie against your brother
or do the same to a friend.

¹³ Do not consent to concoct any lie,
for the continuation of it results in no
         good.

¹⁴ Do not babble in a great number of elders,
and do not repeat a word in your prayer.

¹⁵ Do not hate toilsome labor
and tillage created by the Most High.

¹⁶ Do not reckon yourself among the
         multitude of sinners;
remember that wrath will not delay.

¹⁷ Humble your soul greatly,
because the punishment of the impious is
         fire and worm.

¹⁸ Do not exchange a friend for cash
or a real brother for gold of Souphir.

¹⁹ Do not fail a wise and good wife,
for her grace is beyond gold.

²⁰ Do not abuse a domestic when he truly
         works
or a laborer when he gives his soul.

²¹ Let your soul love an intelligent domestic;
do not deprive him of freedom.

²² Do you have cattle? Look after them,
and if they are useful to you, let them
         remain with you.

²³ Do you have children? Educate them,
and bend their neck from youth.

²⁴ Do you have daughters? Give heed to their
         body,

and do not brighten your face towards
them.

²⁵ Give a daughter in marriage, and you will
         have completed a great task,

and present her to an understanding
man.

²⁶ Do you have a wife like your soul? Do not
         divorce her,

and do not entrust yourself to her when
she is hated.

²⁷ With your whole heart honor your father,
and a mother’s birth pangs do not forget.

²⁸ Remember that you were born through
         them—

and how will you repay them what they
have done for you?

²⁹ With your whole soul, revere the Lord,
and admire his priests.

³⁰ With your whole might, love him who
         made you,
and his ministers do not neglect.

³¹ Fear the Lord, and honor a priest,
and give him his portion, as it has been
         commanded of you:

first fruits and ^aconcerning error^a and gift of
         forearms

and sacrifice of sanctification and first
fruits of holy things.

³² And stretch out your hand to a poor person
in order that your blessing may be
         complete.

³³ The kindness of something given is before
         everyone alive,
and do not hinder kindness for a corpse.

³⁴ Do not lag behind those who weep,
but mourn with those who mourn.

³⁵ Do not hesitate to visit a sick person,
for because of such deeds you will be
         loved.

³⁶ In all your words, remember the end,
and you will not ever sin.

8 Do not contend with a powerful person,
lest you fall into his hands.

² Do not quarrel with a rich person,
lest he counter your weight;

for gold has ruined many
and has perverted hearts of kings.

³ Do not contend with a garrulous person,
and do not heap wood on his fire.

⁴ Do not make fun of the uneducated,
lest your ancestors be insulted.

⁵ Do not reproach a person when he is
         turning away from sin;

remember that we all are subject to
rebuke.

⁶ Do not disdain a person in his old age,
for some of us, too, are growing old.

⁷ Do not rejoice over a corpse;
remember that we all pass away.

⁸ Do not disregard a discourse of the wise,
and turn to their proverbs,

because from them you will learn
         instruction
and how to minister to noblemen.

⁹ Do not miss out on the discourse of the
         aged,

for even they themselves learned from
their fathers,

because from them you will learn
         understanding

and how to give an answer in time of
need.

¹⁰ Do not stoke a sinner’s coals;
do not be set afire by the fire of his flame.

¹¹ Do not vacate your seat before an insolent
         person,

lest he sit down as an ambush to your
mouth.

¹² Do not lend to a person stronger than you,
and if you do lend, be as one who has
         lost.

¹³ Do not give surety beyond your ability,
and if you do give surety, regard it as a
         paying back.

¹⁴ Do not go to law with a judge,
for according to his status will they judge
         in his favor.

¹⁵ With a reckless person do not travel on the
         road,
lest your troubles weigh you down;

for he will travel as he wants to,
and by his folly you will perish as well.

¹⁶ With a quick-tempered person do not pick a
         fight,
and do not traverse the desert with him,

because bloodshed is as nothing in his
         eyes,

and where there is no help, he will cast
you down.

¹⁷ With a foolish one do not consult,
for he cannot cover up a secret.

¹⁸ In the presence of a stranger do not do
         something secret, for you do not know what he will bring
forth.

¹⁹ Do not expose your heart to any person,
and do not let him return a favor to you.

9 Do not be jealous of the wife of your bosom,
nor teach an evil lesson against yourself.

² Do not give your soul to a woman,
to let her trample upon your strength.

³ Do not meet with a female escort,
lest you fall into her snares.

⁴ With a female strummer do not dally,
lest you become caught in her endeavors.

⁵ Do not ogle a maiden,
lest you be made to stumble in her
         rebukes.

⁶ Do not give your soul to whores,
lest you lose your inheritance.

⁷ Do not look around in city alleyways,
and in its deserted places do not wander.

⁸ Turn an eye from a shapely woman,
and do not ogle beauty belonging to
         another;

by a woman’s beauty many have gone astray,
and from it fondness flares up like a fire.

⁹ With a married woman do not sit down at
         all,
and do not feast with her at wine,

lest your soul incline to her
and by your blood you slip into
         destruction.

¹⁰ Do not abandon an old friend,
for the recent one is not his equal;

a new friend is like new wine;
if it ages, you will drink it with
         merriment.

¹¹ Do not envy a sinner’s good repute,
for you do not know what his undoing
         will be.

¹² Do not delight in the success of the
         impious;

remember that they will not be deemed
righteous until Hades^a.

¹³ Keep far from a person who has authority to
         kill,

and you will not be apprehensive of the
fear of death,

and if you approach him^b, do not make a
         mistake,
lest he take your life.

Recognize that you are treading in the midst
         of snares,

and you are walking about on a city’s
battlements.

¹⁴ According to your strength take stock of
         your fellow,
and consult with the wise.

¹⁵ Let your discussion be with intelligent
         people,

and all your exposition in the law of the
Most High.

¹⁶ Let righteous men be your dinner
         companions,

and let your boast be in the fear of the
Lord.

¹⁷ In the hand of artisans a work will be
         praised,

and the people’s leader is wise by his
word.

¹⁸ Feared in his city is a garrulous man,
and he who is reckless in his speech will
         be hated.

10 A wise judge will educate his people,
and the rule of an intelligent person will
         be orderly.

² As the people’s judge is, so also are his
         officials,

and as the ruler of the city is, are all its
inhabitants.

³ An uneducated king will destroy his
         people,

and a city will be populated by the
intelligence of its^b rulers.

⁴ In the Lord’s hand is the governance of the
         earth,

and he will raise up over it the person
useful for the time.

⁵ In the Lord’s hand is a man’s success,
and to a scribe’s face he will add his
         reputation.

⁶ For every wrong do not be angry with your
         neighbor,

and do not do anything with acts of
insolence.

⁷ Hateful before the Lord and humans is
         pride,
and to both injustice is wrong.

⁸ Dominion is transferred from nation to
         nation

on account of injustice and insolence and
money.

[For there is nothing more lawless than love of
         money;]

[for this person even makes his own soul a
commodity.]

⁹ How can ^cearth and ashes^c behave
         arrogantly?—
^dbecause in life I hurled his entrails^d.

¹⁰ A long illness mocks a physician;
today a king, and tomorrow he will die.

¹¹ For when a person dies,
he inherits creeping things and beasts
         and worms.

¹² Pride’s beginning for a human is to rebel
         against the Lord, and against him who made him his heart
rebels,

¹³ because pride’s beginning is sin,
and he who clings to it will pour out
         abomination.

Therefore the Lord brought on incredible
attacks

and ruined him^a completely.

¹⁴ Thrones of rulers the Lord brought down,
and he seated the gentle in their place.

¹⁵ Roots of nations the Lord plucked up,
and he planted the humble in their
         place.

¹⁶ Lands of nations the Lord ruined,
and he destroyed them as far as earth’s
         foundations.

¹⁷ He removed some people and destroyed
         them,

and he erased their memorial from
earth.

¹⁸ Pride was not created for human beings,
nor violent anger for what is born of
         women.

¹⁹ What kind of offspring is honorable?
Human offspring.

What kind of offspring is honorable?
Those who fear the Lord.

What kind of offspring is dishonorable?
Human offspring.

What kind of offspring is dishonorable?

Those who transgress the
commandments.

²⁰ In the midst of kin their leader is honorable,
and those who, in his eyes, fear the Lord.

[21 The beginning of acceptance is fear of the Lord,]
[but the beginning of rejection is obduracy
         and arrogance.]

²² Guest and stranger and poor person—
their boast is fear of the Lord.

²³ It is not right to dishonor an intelligent
         poor person,

and it is not proper to glorify a sinful
man.

²⁴ Noble and judge and ruler will be glorified,
but none of them is greater than he who
         fears the Lord.

²⁵ Free persons will attend to a wise domestic,
and a knowledgeable man will not
         grumble.

²⁶ Do not craftily perform your task,
and do not extol yourself in your time of
         difficulty.

²⁷ Superior is a person who works and excels
         in all things

to one who struts about extolling himself
and lacks bread.

²⁸ Child, in meekness give repute to your
         soul,
and give it value according to its worth.

²⁹ Him who errs against his own soul—who
         will vindicate?

And who will give repute to him who
devalues his own life?

³⁰ A poor person has repute because of his
         knowledge,

and a rich person has repute because of
his wealth.

³¹ He who has repute in poverty, how much
         more also in wealth?

And he who is held in disrepute in
wealth, how much more also in
poverty?

11 A humble person’s wisdom will raise up his
         head,

and it will seat him in the midst of
nobles.

² Do not praise a man for his good looks,
and do not loathe a man for his
         appearance.

³ Small among flying creatures is a bee,
and the origin of sweet things is its
         produce.

⁴ Do not boast about the putting-on of
         clothes,

and do not exalt yourself in a day of
glory,

because the works of the Lord are
         wonderful,

and his works are hidden among
humans.

⁵ Many tyrants have sat on the ground,
but one not expected to was wearing a
         diadem.

⁶ Many dynasts have been utterly dishonored,
and people of high repute have been
         given over into the hands of others.

⁷ Before you investigate, do not find fault;
reflect first, and then rebuke.

⁸ Before listening, do not answer,
and in the middle of speaking, do not
         interrupt.

⁹ About a matter that is of no use to you, do
         not quarrel,

and in a trial of sinners, do not
deliberate.

¹⁰ Child, let not your actions entail many
         things;

if you multiply them^a, you will not be
held blameless,

and if you pursue, you will not overtake,
and you will not escape when you flee.

¹¹ There exists one who toils and struggles and
         hurries
but is so much the more in want.

¹² There exists one who is sluggish and in need
         of assistance,

lacking strength and abounding in
poverty, and the eyes of the Lord looked upon him
         for good,
and he restored him from his low estate

¹³ and raised up his head,
and many marveled at him.

¹⁴ Good things and bad, life and death,
poverty and wealth are from the Lord.

[15 Wisdom and skill and knowledge of the law are
         from the Lord,]

[affection and the ways of good works are
from him.]

[16 Error and darkness have been created with
         sinners,]

[and evil things grow old along with those
who take pride in evil.]

¹⁷ The Lord’s gift remains with the pious,
and his favor will bring success forever.

¹⁸ There exists one who becomes rich from his
         diligence and miserliness,

and this is the portion of his
recompense.

¹⁹ When he says, “I have found rest,
and now I will eat of my good things,”

even he does not know how time will pass
         by,

and he will leave them to others and will
die.

²⁰ Stand by your covenant^a, and attend to it,
and in your work grow old.

²¹ Do not wonder at the works of a sinner,
but have faith in the Lord, and continue
         your labor,
because it is easy in the eyes of the Lord

quickly, suddenly, to make a needy
person rich.

²² The Lord’s blessing is in the wage of a pious
         person,

and in a short time his good pleasure
flourishes.

²³ Do not say, “What is my need?
And what will be my good things from
         now on?”

²⁴ Do not say, “I have enough,
and what distress will I suffer from now
         on?”

²⁵ In a day of ^bprosperity, adversity^b is
         forgotten,

and in a day of ^cadversity, prosperity^c will
not be remembered,

²⁶ because it is easy with the Lord in a day of
         death

to give back to a person according to his
ways.

²⁷ An hour’s misery engenders forgetfulness of
         luxury,

and a person’s end is a disclosure of his
deeds.

²⁸ Before death call no one happy,
and in his children a man will be known.

²⁹ Do not bring every person into your home,
for many are the ambushes of the
         deceitful.

³⁰ A decoy partridge in a cage, so is the heart of
         an arrogant person,
and like a spy he observes a downfall.

³¹ For he lies in ambush turning good things
         into bad,

and ^damong choice things he adds
disgrace^d.

³² From a spark of fire coals are multiplied,
and a sinful person lies in ambush for
         blood.

³³ Beware of a scoundrel—for he devises
         wicked things—
lest he deliver to you disgrace forever.

³⁴ Welcome a stranger, and he will twist you
         around in confusion
and alienate you from your own.

12 If you do good, know for whom you do it^e,
and there will be gratitude for your good
            deeds.

² Do good to a pious person, and you will
         find repayment,

and if not from him, then from the Most
High.

³ There is no good for him who persists in
         evil

and for him who does not willingly offer
charity.

⁴ Give to the pious person, but do not assist
         the sinner.

⁵ Treat the humble well, and do not give to
         an impious person;

hold back loaves of bread, and do not give
         to him,
lest by them he prevail over you;

for you will get twice as many bad things
for all the good things that you might do
         for him,

⁶ because also the Most High hated sinners,
and on the impious he will render
         punishment.

[And he is keeping them for the day of their
         punishment.]

⁷ Give to the good person, and do not assist
         the sinner.

⁸ The friend will not be punished in good
         things,

and the enemy will not be hidden in evil
things.

⁹ In a man’s good things, his enemies are in
         pain,

and in his evil things, a friend also will
be separated.

¹⁰ Never trust your enemy;
for just as copper corrodes, so does his
         wickedness.

¹¹ And if he is brought low and walks
         stooped, trust your soul, and be on guard against
him,

and you shall be to him as one who wipes a
         mirror,

and you shall know that it was not
completely tarnished.

¹² Do not stand him next to you,
lest, having overthrown you, he stand in
         your place;

do not seat him at your right,
lest he seek your seat,

and at last you will understand my words
and be pricked by my sayings.

¹³ Who will pity a charmer bitten by a snake,
or all who approach wild beasts?—

¹⁴ so the one who goes near a man who sins
and one who gets mixed up in his sins.

¹⁵ For a time he will remain with you,
and if you falter, he will not be steadfast.

¹⁶ With his lips the enemy will speak sweetly,
and in his heart he will plan to throw you
         into a trench.

With his eyes the enemy will weep,
and if he finds an opportunity, he will
         not be sated with blood.

¹⁷ If harm meets you, you will find him there
         ahead of you,
and pretending to help, he will trip your
         heel.

¹⁸ He will shake his head and clap his hands
and whisper many things and alter his
         face.

13 He who touches pitch will become dirty,
and he who associates with a proud
         person will become like him.

² Do not lift what is too heavy for you,
and do not associate with one stronger
         and richer than you.

How will a clay pot associate with a
         cauldron?

The former will strike against, and the
former will be smashed.

³ A rich person did wrong, and he was angry
         to boot;
a poor person has been wronged, and he
         will plead.

⁴ If you are useful, he will work with you,
and if you are in want, he will abandon
         you.

⁵ If you have something^a, he will live with
         you,
and he will clean you out, and he will
         not suffer.

⁶ He has need of you and will deceive you
and will smile at you and will give you
         hope;
he will speak nice things to you and say,
         “What do you need?”

⁷ He will shame you with his foods
until he cleans you out two or three times,
and at last he will mock you;

after these things, he will see you and leave
         you
and will shake his head at you.

⁸ Take care that you are not led astray,
and do not be humiliated by your folly.

⁹ When a powerful person invites you, be
         reserved,
and he will invite you so much more.

¹⁰ Do not be forward, lest you be rejected,
and do not stand far off, lest you be
         forgotten.

¹¹ Do not aim to speak as an equal with
         him,
and do not put faith in his rather many
         words;

for with much talk he will test you,
and as though smiling he will be
         examining you.

¹² Merciless is he who does not guard words,
and he will not spare you from doing bad
         and imprisonment.

¹³ Be on guard, and pay attention,
because you are walking about with your
         own downfall.

[14 When you hear them in your sleep, wake up.]
[In your entire life, love the Lord,]
[and call upon him for your deliverance.]

¹⁵ Every living thing loves what is like to it,
and every person his fellow.

¹⁶ All flesh congregates according to kind,
and with one like himself will a man
         cleave.

¹⁷ What will a wolf have in common with a
         lamb?—
so is^a a sinner to a pious person.

¹⁸ What peace is there between a hyena and a
         dog?

And what peace between a rich person
and a needy person?

¹⁹ The prey of lions is onagers in the desert;
thus the poor are the fodder of the rich.

²⁰ An abomination to a proud person is
         humility;

thus an abomination to a rich person is a
poor person.

²¹ When a rich person totters, he is supported
         by friends,
but when a humble person falls, he is
         pushed away by friends.

²² When a rich person staggers, many are his
         helpers;
he spoke things not to be spoken, and
         they justified him.

A humble person staggered, and in addition
         they rebuked him;
he uttered sense, and no place was given
         to him.

²³ A rich person spoke, and all kept silent, and they exalted his word up to the
clouds.

A poor person spoke, and they said, “Who is
         this?”

And if he should stumble, they will even
overturn him.

²⁴ Wealth in which there is no sin is good,
but in the mouths of an impious person
         poverty is wicked.

²⁵ A person’s heart changes his face,
whether for good things or bad.

²⁶ A heart’s footstep in good things is a
         cheerful face,
and the invention of illustrations is
         conversations along with toils.

14 Happy is the man who did not slip with his
         mouth

and was not stabbed with the pain of sins.

² Happy the one whose soul has not
         condemned him^a
and who has not lost his hope.

³ For a petty man wealth is not good,
and to a begrudging person—why is there
         money?

⁴ He who constrains his appetite collects for
         others,
and with his goods others will live
         luxuriously.

⁵ He who is evil to himself, to whom will he
         be good?

And he will never be gladdened by his
money.

⁶ There is none worse than he who begrudges
         himself,
and this is repayment for his evil.

⁷ Even if he acts well, he does it with
         forgetting,
and in the end he reveals his evil.

⁸ Wicked is the one who is grudging with the
         eye,
when he turns away his^a face and
         overlooks souls.

⁹ The eye of the greedy is not satisfied with a
         portion,
and wicked injustice withers the soul.

¹⁰ An evil eye is envious over bread,
and it is lacking on his^b table.

¹¹ Child, even as you have, treat yourself well,
and bring offerings to the Lord worthily.

¹² Remember that death will not tarry,
and the covenant of Hades has not been
         shown to you.

¹³ Before you die, treat a friend well,
and, according to your strength, reach
         out, and give to him.

¹⁴ Do not withdraw from a good day,
and do not let a share of a good desire
         pass you by.

¹⁵ Will you not leave behind your toils to
         another
and your toils to division by lot?

¹⁶ Give, and take, and deceive your soul,
because in Hades there is no seeking of
         luxury.

¹⁷ All flesh becomes old like a garment,
for the covenant of old is, “By death you
         shall die!”

¹⁸ Like a sprouting leaf on a thickly leaved tree,
some it sheds, but others it puts forth;

so is a generation of flesh and blood,
the one dies and the other is born.

¹⁹ Every decaying deed ceases,
and the one who does it will pass away
         with it.

²⁰ Happy is the man who will meditate on
         wisdom
and who will converse with his
         understanding.

²¹ He who considers her ways in his heart
also will reflect on her obscurities.

²² Go out after her like a tracker,
and in her entrance-ways lie in wait!

²³ He who peers through her windows
also will listen at her doorways.

²⁴ He who lodges near her house
also will pitch a peg in her walls.

²⁵ He will set his tent ^caccording to her hand^c,
and he will lodge in a lodging place of
         good things.

²⁶ He will place his children in her shelter,
and under her boughs he will encamp.

²⁷ He will be sheltered by her from heat,
and in her glory he will lodge.

15 He who fears the Lord will do it^d,
and he who has a hold on the law will lay
         hold of her.

² And she will come to meet him like a
         mother,
and like a woman of maidenhood, she
         will welcome him.

³ She will feed him bread of understanding,
and water of wisdom she will give him to
         drink.

⁴ He will be propped up on her and will not
         ^elie down^e,
and he will attend to her, and he will not
         be put to shame.

⁵ And she will exalt him above his fellows,
and in the midst of an assembly she will
         open his mouth.

⁶ Gladness and a garland of rejoicing
and an everlasting name will he inherit.

⁷ Witless people will never lay hold of her,
and sinful men will never see her.

⁸ She is far from arrogance,
and lying men will never remember her.

⁹ A song of praise is not proper in the mouth
         of a sinner, because it has not been apportioned by the Lord.

¹⁰ For in wisdom a song of praise will be
         uttered,
and the Lord will make it prosper.

¹¹ Do not say, “On account of the Lord I fell
         away,”
for what he hates, he will not do.

¹² Do not say, “It was he who led me astray,”
for he has no need of a sinful man.

¹³ Every abomination the Lord hated,
and it^a is not beloved to those who fear
         him.

¹⁴ It was he who from the beginning made
         humankind,
and he left him in the hand of his
         deliberation.

¹⁵ If you want to, you shall preserve the
         commandments,
and to keep faith is a matter of good
         pleasure.

¹⁶ He has set aside for you fire and water;
to whichever you want, you shall stretch
         out your hand.

¹⁷ Before humans are life and death,
and whichever one he desires will be
         given to him,

¹⁸ because great is the wisdom of the Lord;
he is mighty in dominance and one who
         sees everything.

¹⁹ And his eyes are on those who fear him,
and he will know every human deed.

²⁰ He did not command anyone to be
         impious,
and he did not give anyone leave to sin.

16 Do not desire a multitude of useless
         children,

and do not be glad over impious sons.

² If they multiply, do not be glad over them
unless the fear of the Lord is with them.

³ Do not have faith in their life,
and do not be intent on the multitude of
         them.

[For you will groan in untimely mourning,]
[and suddenly you will know of their end.]

For better is one than a thousand,
and to die childless rather than to have
         impious children.

⁴ For by one intelligent person a city will be
         peopled,
but a tribe of lawless people will be left
         without^b.

⁵ Many such things has my eye seen,
and more mighty things than these has
         my ear heard.

⁶ In a gathering of sinners a fire will blaze
         out,
and in a disobedient nation wrath has
         blazed out.

⁷ He did not propitiate for the ancient giants,
those who revolted in their strength.

⁸ He did not spare the neighbors of Lot
whom he loathed on account of their
         arrogance.

⁹ He did not have mercy on a nation of
         destruction,
those carried away by their sins.

[All these things he did to hard-hearted
         nations,]

[and by the multitude of his holy ones he was
not entreated]

¹⁰ even so six hundred thousand foot soldiers,
those assembled in their hardness of
         heart.

[In flogging, showing mercy, striking, healing,]
[the Lord watched closely with compassion
         and instruction.]

¹¹ Even if there might be one stiff-necked
         person,
it would be a wonder if he would go
         unpunished;

for mercy and wrath are with him,
a dynast of propitiations and pouring out
         wrath.

¹² According to his great mercy, so also is his
         reproof;
he will judge a man according to his
         deeds.

¹³ A sinner will not escape with booty,
and the endurance of the pious will never
         fail.

¹⁴ He will make a place for every act of
         charity;
each will get according to his deeds.

[15 The Lord hardened Pharao so that he did not
         know him]

[so that his actions might be known to what
lies beneath the sky.]

[16 To all creation is his mercy manifest,]
[and his light and darkness he apportioned to
         Adam.]

¹⁷ Do not say, “I will be hidden from the
         Lord—
and from on high who will remember
         me?”

Among a great many people I will not be
         known;
for what is my soul in an immeasurable
         creation?

¹⁸ Look, the sky and the sky of the sky,
abyss and earth will totter at his
         visitation.

[The entire world, past and present, is in his
will.]

¹⁹ At once the mountains and the foundations
         of the earth
are being shaken together with trembling
         when he looks at them.

²⁰ And to them the heart will give no
         thought—and his ways who has pondered?

²¹ And a tempest there is, which person shall
         not see—
and most of his deeds are in secret.

²² Acts of justice who will announce,
or who will await? For the covenant is far
         off.

[And an examination for all is at the end.]

²³ One who is lacking in heart thinks these
         things,
and a foolish and misled man thinks
         foolish things.

²⁴ Listen to me, child, and learn knowledge,
and to my words apply your heart.

²⁵ I will disclose instruction by fixed standard,
and with accuracy I will declare
         knowledge.

²⁶ In the Lord’s creation are his works from the
         beginning,
and from the making of them he defined
         their portions.

²⁷ He put in order their tasks forever
and their rule for their generations;

they neither hungered, nor did they grow
         weary,
and they did not abandon their tasks.

²⁸ Each one did not crowd its fellow,
and they will not ever disobey his
         dictum.

²⁹ And after these things, the Lord looked
         upon the earth,
and he filled it with his good things.

³⁰ With the soul of every living thing he
         covered its face,
and into it is their return.

17 The Lord created a human being out of
         earth,

and he returned him into it again.

² He gave them days in number and a fixed
         time,
and he gave them authority over the
         things upon it.

³ He clothed them in a strength like
         himself,
and in his image he made them.

⁴ He placed the fear of him^a upon all flesh,
even to have dominion over beasts and
         birds.

[5 They received use of the five faculties of the
         Lord,]

[but, apportioning a sixth, he gave to them
the gift of mind,]

[and the seventh, reason, the interpreter of
his faculties.]

⁶ Deliberation and a tongue and eyes,
ears and a heart for thinking he gave
         them.

⁷ With knowledge of understanding he filled
         them,
and good things and bad he showed to
         them.

⁸ He put the fear of him upon their hearts,
to show them the majesty of his works.

[He allowed that they boast of his wonders
through ages.]

¹⁰ And they shall praise a name of holiness

⁹      in order to recount the majesties of his
         works.

¹¹ He set before them knowledge,
and a law of life he allotted to them

[in order to be mindful that those who exist
now are mortal.]

¹² A perpetual covenant he established with
         them,
and his judgments he showed to them.

¹³ Majesty of glory their eyes saw,
and the glory of his voice their ear heard.

¹⁴ And he said to them, “Be on guard against
         all wrong,”
and he commanded each of them
         concerning his fellow.

¹⁵ Their ways are before him always;
they will not be hidden from his eyes.

[16 Their ways from youth are upon evil things,]

[and they were not strong enough to make
their hearts of flesh]

[rather than of stone.]

¹⁷ [For in the division of the nations of the entire
         earth,]

for each nation he appointed a leader,
and the Lord’s portion is Israel,

[18 whom, being the firstborn, he nurtures with
         instruction,]

[and allotting the light of love, he does not
neglect him.]

¹⁹ All of their works are before him like the
         sun,
and his eyes are continually upon their
         ways.

²⁰ Their injustices were not hidden from him,
and all their sins are before the Lord.

[21 But the Lord, being kind and knowing his
         formation,]

[neither neglected them nor forsook sparing
them.]

²² A man’s charity is like a signet with him,
and a person’s kindness he will preserve
         like the apple of his eye,

[apportioning repentance to his sons and
daughters.]

²³ After these things he will arise and repay
         them,
and their repayment he will deliver upon
         their head.

²⁴ Except to those who repented he granted a
         return,
and he exhorted those who were
         abandoning hope.

²⁵ Turn back to the Lord, and leave sins
         behind; petition in person, and minimize the
offense.

²⁶ Return to the Most High, and turn away
         from injustice,

[for he will guide out of darkness into the
light of health,]

and intensely hate abomination.

²⁷ Who will sing praises to the Most High in
         Hades
instead of the living and those who give
         thanks?

²⁸ From a corpse, since it does not exist,
         acknowledgement has perished;
a living and healthy person will praise
         the Lord.

²⁹ How great is the charity of the Lord
and his propitiation to those who turn
         back to him.

³⁰ For not all things are able to be among
         humans,
because a son of man is not immortal.

³¹ What is brighter than the sun? Even this
         thing fails.
And flesh and blood will ponder evil.

³² It is he who reviews the power of the sky’s
         height,
and all human beings are earth and
         ashes.

18 He who lives forever created everything in
         common.

² The Lord alone will be justified,

[and there is no other beside him,]

[3 he who steers the world with the span of his
         hand,]

[and all things obey his will,]

[for he is king of all things by his power,]

[separating among them holy things from
profane.]

⁴ He has permitted no one to announce his
         works—
and who can search out his majestic
         deeds?

⁵ The power of his greatness who will
         enumerate?
And who will add to recount his mercies?

⁶ It is impossible to diminish or to increase
         them^a,
and it is impossible to search out the
         wonders of the Lord.

⁷ When a person finishes, then he is
         beginning,
and when he stops, then he will be at a
         loss.

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

⁹ The number of a person’s days is as many as
         a hundred years,

[but indeterminable by all is the sleep of each
one.]

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

¹¹ For this reason the Lord was long-suffering
         with them,
and he poured out his mercy upon them.

¹² He saw and knew their end, that it is
         grievous;
for this reason he multiplied his
         propitiation.

¹³ A person’s mercy is upon his fellow,
but the mercy of the Lord is upon all
         flesh,

when he corrects and instructs and teaches
and turns as a shepherd does his flock.

¹⁴ He shows mercy to those who accept
         discipline
and who hasten to his judgments.

¹⁵ Child, do not allow reproach among good
         deeds
nor pain of words with every giving.

¹⁶ Does not dew mitigate scorching heat?
So better a word than a gift.

¹⁷ Look! Does not a word exceed a good gift?
And both are with a man who has been
         favored.

¹⁸ A foolish person will upbraid ungraciously,
and the giving of a grudging person melts
         eyes.

¹⁹ Before speaking, learn,
and before illness, take care of yourself.

²⁰ Before judgment, examine yourself,
and in the hour of scrutiny you will find
         propitiation.

²¹ Before you fall ill, humble yourself,
and in a time of sinful actions
         demonstrate repentance.

²² Do not be hindered from repaying a vow
         appropriately,
and do not wait until death to be
         vindicated.

²³ Before making a vow, prepare yourself,
and do not be like a person who tempts
         the Lord.

²⁴ Be mindful of wrath in days of death
and of a time of vengeance ^bin the
         turning away of a face^b.

²⁵ Be mindful of a time of hunger in a time of
         plenty,
of poverty and want in days of wealth.

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

²⁷ A wise person will be cautious in everything,
and in days of sins he will take heed
         against error.

²⁸ Every intelligent person recognized wisdom,
and to him who finds her she^d will give
         acknowledgment.

²⁹ Persons who are intelligent with words also
         became wise themselves,

and they poured forth apt proverbs.

[Better is confidence in a single master]
[than clinging with a dead heart to a dead
         one.]

SELF CONTROL

³⁰ After your desires do not go,
and from your appetites restrain yourself.

³¹ If you furnish your soul with consent for
         desire,
it will make you a laughingstock of your
         enemies.

³² Do not be glad in great luxury;
do not be made needy by its contact.

³³ Do not become poor by feasting out of
         borrowing,
and you have nothing in your pocket.

[For you will be plotting against your own life.]

19 A drunken worker will not become rich,
and he who despises few things will fall
         little by little.

² Wine and women will mislead intelligent
         men,
and he who joins himself to prostitutes
         will be more reckless.

³ Decay and worms will take possession of
         him,
and a reckless soul will be carried off.

⁴ He who trusts quickly is light in heart,
and he who sins will do wrong to his soul.

⁵ He who is gladdened by wickedness will be
         condemned,

[but he who withstands pleasures crowns his
life.]

⁶ [He who controls the tongue will live without
         strife,]
and he who hates discussion will be
         lacking in heart.

⁷ Never repeat a word,
and nothing will be lacking to you.

⁸ Among friend and foe do not describe,
and unless it is a sin for you, do not
         disclose.

⁹ Suppose he^a has heard you and kept watch
         on you
and in time will hate you.

¹⁰ Have you heard a word? Let it perish along
         with you.
Be brave! It will never make you burst.

¹¹ From a word, a foolish person will go into
         labor pains,
as does she who is giving birth from a
         babe to be born.

¹² An arrow stuck in a thigh of flesh,
so is a word in the gut of a foolish
         person.

¹³ Question a friend; perhaps he didn’t,
and if he did something, lest perchance
         he add.

¹⁴ Question your fellow; perhaps he didn’t
         say,
and if he has said, lest he repeat.

¹⁵ Question a friend, for ofttimes it becomes
         slander,
and do not believe every word.

¹⁶ There exists one who slips, and it is not
         ^bfrom the soul^b—
and who has not sinned with his
         tongue?

¹⁷ Question your fellow before threatening,
and give a place to the law of the Most
         High.

[¹⁸ Fear of the Lord is the beginning of acquisition,]
[and wisdom secures affection from him.]

[¹⁹ Knowledge of the Lord’s commandments is
         education for life,]

[and those who do things pleasing to him
will enjoy the fruits of the tree of
immortality.]

²⁰ All wisdom is fear of the Lord,
and in all wisdom there is doing of the
         law
[and knowledge of his omnipotence.]

[21 When a domestic says to a master, “I will not
         do what pleases you,”]

[if after these things he does, he angers him
who supports him.]

²² There is no wisdom that is knowledge of
         wickedness,
and there is no prudence in advice of
         sinners.

²³ There is cleverness that is also an
         abomination,
and there is a fool lacking in wisdom.

²⁴ Better is a fearful person inferior in
         intelligence
than one superior in prudence and
         transgressing the law.

²⁵ There exists exact cleverness that is also
         unjust,
and there is one who perverts a favor in
         order to produce a judgment,

[and he who deems righteous is wise in
judgment.]

²⁶ There is one who acts wickedly, bent down
         with blackness,
and what is inside him is full of
         treachery.

²⁷ As he lowers face and feigns deafness,
when no one observes, he will outrun you.

²⁸ And if by lack of strength he is prevented
         from sinning,
if he finds opportunity, he will do evil.

²⁹ From appearance a man will be
         recognized,
and from a meeting in person a rational
         person will be recognized.

³⁰ A man’s clothing and a ^claughter of teeth^c
and a person’s gait will announce things
         about him.

20 There is questioning that is not timely,

and there is one who keeps silent, and he
is prudent.

² How good it is to question rather than to be
         angry.

³ And he who admits freely will be kept from
         disparagement.

⁴ A eunuch’s desire to violate a girl—
thus is he who makes judgments by
         force.

⁵ There exists a person who keeps silent, who
         is found to be wise,
and there is one who is hated from much
         talk.

⁶ There exists one who keeps silent, for he
         does not have an answer,
and there is one who keeps silent, since
         he knows the proper time.

⁷ A wise person will be silent until a proper
         time,
but the swaggerer and fool overstep a
         proper time.

⁸ He who is excessive with speech will be
         loathed,
and he who pretends to authority will be
         hated.

[How good that when one is rebuked, one
shows repentance,]

[for thus shall you escape willful sinning.]

⁹ A man has success in evil things,
and there is a windfall resulting in loss.

¹⁰ There exists giving that will not profit you,
and there exists giving of which the
         repayment is double.

¹¹ There exists loss for the sake of reputation,
and there exists a person who from a low
         estate raised his^a head.

¹² There exists a person who buys much for a
         little
and pays for it seven times.

¹³ The wise person will make himself beloved
         in a few things,
but favors of foolish ones will be poured
         out.

¹⁴ A gift of a fool will not profit you,
[and likewise also that of a grudging person
         on account of his compulsion,]
for his eyes are many instead of one.

¹⁵ He will seldom give and reproach often,
and he will open his mouth like a
         herald;

today he will lend and ask back
         tomorrow;
such a person is hateful.

¹⁶ A foolish person says, “I do not have a
         friend,
and there is no gratitude for my good
         deeds.”

Those who eat his bread are mean in
         tongue.

¹⁷ How often and how many will ridicule him?

[For he has not received what he has with true
         feeling,]

[and what he does not have similarly is
indifferent to him.]

¹⁸ A slip on the ground rather than of the
         tongue;
so the downfall of evil persons will come
         speedily.

¹⁹ An ungracious person, an untimely story,
it will persist in the mouth of the
         uneducated.

²⁰ An illustration from the mouth of a foolish
         person will be rejected,
for he will not tell it at its proper time.

²¹ There exists a person who is prevented from
         sinning by indigence,
and in his rest he will not be
         bewildered.

²² There exists a person who destroys his life
         through shame,
and he will destroy it due to a fool.

²³ There exists a person who promises to a
         friend a favor out of shame
and made him an enemy to no purpose.

²⁴ A lie is an evil blemish on a person;
it will persist in the mouth of the
         uneducated.

²⁵ Preferable is a thief over one who persists in
         a lie,
but both will inherit destruction.

²⁶ A lying person’s character is dishonor,
and his shame is constantly with him.

ILLUSTRATIVE SAYINGS

²⁷ The wise person will apply himself in few
         things,
and a prudent person will please nobles.

²⁸ He who tills the soil will raise up his heap,
and he who pleases nobles will atone for
         injustice.

²⁹ Friendly gift and presents^b blind the eyes of
         wise persons,
and like a muzzle on a mouth they turn
         away reproofs.

³⁰ Hidden wisdom and unseen treasure,
what profit is there in both?

³¹ Better is a person who hides his
         foolishness
than a person who hides his wisdom.

[³² Better is implacable endurance in seeking the
         Lord]

[than a spurious charioteer of one’s own life.]

21 Child, you sinned; do not add any longer,
and concerning your former ones petition.

² As from before a snake, flee from sin,
for if you approach, it will bite you;

it’s teeth are lion’s teeth,
destroying people’s lives.

³ All lawlessness is like a two-edged sword;
for its wound there is no healing.

⁴ Consternation and insolence will desolate
         wealth;
so an arrogant person’s house will be
         uprooted.

⁵ A poor person’s petition is from the mouth
         to his^a ears,
and his judgment comes speedily.

⁶ One who hates reproof is in the footstep of
         a sinner,

and he who fears the Lord will turn with
the heart.

⁷ Known from afar is he who is mighty in
         tongue,
but he who is sensible knows when he
         makes a slip.

⁸ He who builds his house with others’
         money
is like one who gathers his stones for a
         burial mound.

⁹ A gathering of the lawless is bundled flax,
and a flame of fire is their end.

¹⁰ A way of sinners is leveled out of stones,
and at its end is a hole of Hades.

¹¹ He who keeps the law gains mastery over
         the object of his thought,
and consummation of the fear of the
         Lord is wisdom.

¹² He who is not clever shall not be instructed,
but there is a cleverness that increases
         bitterness.

¹³ A wise person’s knowledge will increase like
         a flood,
and his counsel is like a spring of life.

¹⁴ The inward parts^b of a foolish person are
         like a broken vessel,
and he will not master any knowledge.

¹⁵ A wise word—if one who understands hears
         it,
he will praise it and will add to it.

He who lives luxuriously heard and was
         displeased with it,
and he turned it aside behind his back.

¹⁶ A foolish person’s explanation is like a
         burden on a journey,
but upon the lips of an intelligent person
         grace will be found.

¹⁷ The mouth of a prudent person will be
         sought in an assembly,
and his words they will ponder in their^b
         heart.

¹⁸ Like a house that has been razed, so is
         wisdom to a foolish person,
and an ignorant person’s knowledge is
         meaningless words.

¹⁹ On a thoughtless person’s feet education is
         fetters,
and like manacles on one’s right hand.

²⁰ A foolish person raises his voice in
         laughter,
but a clever man will scarcely smile in
         silence.

²¹ Like a golden ornament is instruction to a
         prudent person,
and like a bracelet on the right arm.

²² A foolish person’s foot is quick into a house,
but an experienced person will feel
         restraint in front.

²³ A fool peeks into a house from a door,
but an educated man will stand outside.

²⁴ It is lack of education for a person to listen
         at a door,
but a prudent person will be weighed
         down by dishonor.

²⁵ Lips of strangers will tell tales with these
         things,
but the words of prudent persons will be
         placed on a scale.

²⁶ In the mouth of foolish persons is their
         heart,
but in the heart of wise persons is their
         mouth.

²⁷ When an impious person curses the satan,
he curses his own soul.

²⁸ He who whispers defiles his own soul,
and he will be hated in a
         neighborhood.

22 A sluggard has been compared to a filthy
stone,

and everyone will hiss at his dishonor.

² A sluggard has been compared to cow dung
         of dunghills;
everyone who picks it up will shake off
         his^b hand.

³ A father’s shame is in engendering an
         ineducable son^b,
but a daughter is born at a loss.

⁴ A prudent daughter will obtain a husband
         of her own,

and she who is put to shame is as a grief
for a begetter.

⁵ The impudent woman shames father and
         husband,

and she will be held in dishonor by both
of them.

⁶ Untimely narration is music during
         mourning,

but whips and instruction^c are wisdom at
any time.

[7 Children who have a rearing in a good life]
[will hide the lowly birth of their own
         begetters.]

[8 Children who take pride in contempt and lack
         of instruction]

[sully the good birth of their own family.]

⁹ He who teaches a foolish person is one
         gluing together a potsherd,
one arousing a sleeper out of a deep
         sleep.

¹⁰ He who recounts to a foolish person is
         recounting to one who is drowsy,
and at the conclusion he will say, “What
         is it?”

¹¹ Weep over a corpse, for he has left the
         light,
and weep over a foolish person, for he
         has left understanding behind.

Weep sweetly over a corpse, because he died,
but the life of the foolish person is a
         sorry plight beyond death.

¹² Mourning for a corpse is for seven days,
but for a foolish and impious person, it is
         all the days of his life.

¹³ Do not increase speech with a fool,
and do not go to an unintelligent person;

[for when a person is without sense, he will
         bring to nothing everything of yours;]

keep away from him, lest you have trouble,
and you will not be sullied by his shaking
         off;

stay clear of him, and you will find rest,
and you will never be wearied by his
         madness.

¹⁴ What will be heavier than lead?
And what name does he have but
         “foolish person”?

¹⁵ Sand and salt and a lump of iron
are easier to bear than an unintelligent
         person.

¹⁶ A tie-beam fastened into a building
will not be loosed by an earthquake;

so a heart firmly set upon a thought from
         counsel
will not be afraid at any time.

¹⁷ A heart fixed upon thoughtful
         understanding
is like an engraved ornament on a
         smooth wall.

¹⁸ Pebbles lying on a high surface
will never endure against a wind;

so a heart in dread at the thought of a
         foolish person
will never endure against any fear.

¹⁹ He who pricks an eye will draw down tears,
and he who pricks a heart brings to light
         feelings.

²⁰ He who throws a stone at birds scares them
         off,
and he who insults a friend dissolves a
         friendship.

²¹ If you draw a sword on a friend,
do not despair, for a way back is
         possible.

²² If you open your^a mouth against a friend,
be not concerned, for reconciliation is
         possible—

with the exception of reproach and
         arrogance and revealing a secret and
         a treacherous blow—
in these cases any friend will flee.

²³ Gain your fellow’s trust in poverty
so that in his prosperity you may be filled
         as well;

in a time of distress stay with him
so that in his inheritance you may be a
         joint heir.

[For one should not always despise the outline,]
[nor is a rich person admirable when he has
         no purpose.]

²⁴ Preceding a fire there are a furnace’s vapor
         and smoke;

so preceding bloodshed there are
abuses.

²⁵ I will not be ashamed to shelter a friend,
and from before him I will never hide.

²⁶ And if bad things will happen to me on his
         account,
everyone who hears will guard against
         him.

²⁷ Who will grant a guard upon my
         mouth
and a shrewd seal upon my lips,

lest I fall because of them
and my tongue destroy me?

23 O Lord, Father and Master of my life,
do not abandon me to their design,
and do not let me fall among them.

² Who will set whips upon my thought
and discipline of wisdom upon my
         heart

so that they might not spare my faults of
         ignorance
and he shall not let their sins go?—

³ that my acts of ignorance may not be
         multiplied,
and my sins may increase,

and I will fall before my adversaries,
and my enemy will rejoice over me.

[Far from them is the hope of your mercy.]

⁴ O Lord, Father and God of my life,
do not give me a lifting up of eyes,

⁵ and turn desire away from me.

⁶ Let not the belly’s appetite and sexual
         intercourse seize me,

and do not give me over to a shameless
soul.

DISCIPLINE OF THE MOUTH

⁷ Listen, children, to discipline of the
         mouth,

and he who observes it will never be
caught.

⁸ By his lips a sinner will be seized, and an abusive person and an arrogant
person will be made to stumble by
them.

⁹ Do not accustom your mouth to an oath,
and do not become used to the naming
         of the Holy One.

¹⁰ For just as a domestic who is constantly
         scrutinized
will not be wanting for a bruise,

so also he who swears and always speaks the
         name
will never be cleansed from sin.

¹¹ A man of many oaths will be full of
         lawlessness,

and a scourge will not depart from his
house;

if he errs, his sin is upon him,
and if he disregards it, he has sinned
         doubly,

and if he swore in vain, he will not be
         justified,
for his house will be full of distress.

¹² There is a way of speaking that compares
         with death;

let it not be found in the inheritance of
Iakob;

for all these things shall stand away from
         the pious,
and they shall not wallow in sins.

¹³ Do not let your mouth become used to lewd
         want of education,
for there is in it a word of sin.

¹⁴ Remember your father and mother,
for you sit in council among nobles,

lest you forget yourself before them
and act foolishly by your habit,

and you will wish that you were never born,
and you will curse the day of your birth.

¹⁵ A person who is accustomed to words of
         reproach,
in all his days, will never be instructed.

¹⁶ Two kinds multiply sins,
and a third will bring on wrath.

A hot temperament like a burning fire
will never be quenched until it is
         consumed;

a person who is sexually promiscuous with
         ^athe body of his flesh^a
will never cease until a fire burns out.

¹⁷ To a sexually promiscuous person all bread
         is sweet;
he will never grow weary until he dies.

¹⁸ There is a person who transgresses against
         his bed,
saying in his soul, “Who will see me?

Darkness surrounds me, and the walls will
         hide me,
and no one will see me. Why am I discreet?
The Most High will never remember my
         sins.”

¹⁹ And people’s eyes are his fear,

and he was unaware that the eyes of the
Lord

are ten thousand times brighter than the
sun,

as they look upon all the ways of human
         beings
and as they look into obscure parts.

²⁰ Before all things were created, they were
         known to him,
so also after they were completed.

²¹ This one will be punished in the streets of
         the city,

and when he did not suspect it, he will
be seized.

²² So also a woman when she leaves her
         husband
and presents an heir by another.

²³ Now, first, she disobeyed the law of the
         Most High,

and second, she committed a wrong
against her husband,

and third, she committed adultery by an
         illicit act
and presented children by another man.

²⁴ She herself shall be brought out into an
         assembly,

and there will be a visitation on her
children.

²⁵ Her children will not spread out into a
         root,
and her branches will not bear fruit.

²⁶ She will leave behind her memory for a curse,
and her reproach will not be blotted out.

²⁷ And those who are left behind will know
that nothing is better than fear of the
         Lord,

and nothing is sweeter than to heed
         commandments of the Lord.

[28 It is a great glory to follow God,]
[and for you to be received by him is length
         of days.]

PRAISE OF WISDOM

24 Wisdom will praise her soul,
and in the midst of her people she will
        boast.

² In an assembly of the Most High she will
         open her mouth,
and before his power she will boast.

³ “I came forth from the mouth of the Most
         High,
and like a mist I covered earth.

⁴ I encamped in the heights,
and my throne was in a pillar of cloud.

⁵ A circle of sky I encircled alone,
and in the deep of abysses I walked.

⁶ In the waves of the sea and in all the earth
and in every people and nation I led.

⁷ With all these I sought repose,
and in whose inheritance I would settle.

⁸ “Then the creator of all commanded me,
and he who created me put down my
         tent

and said, ‘Encamp in Iakob,
and in Israel let your inheritance be.’

⁹ Before the age, from the beginning, he
         created me,
and until the age I will never fail.

¹⁰ In a holy tent I ministered before him,
and thus in Sion I was firmly set.

¹¹ In a beloved city as well he put me
         down,
and in Ierousalem was my authority.

¹² And I took root among a glorified people,
in the portion of the Lord is my
         inheritance.

¹³ “Like a cedar I was raised up in Lebanon,
and like a cypress in the mountains of
         Haermon.

¹⁴ Like a palm I was raised up in Aiggada,
and like rosebushes in Iericho,

like a good-looking olive tree in a plain,
and I was raised up like a plane tree.

¹⁵ Like cinnamon and camel’s thorn for
         spices^a,

and like choice myrrh I gave forth a
fragrance,

like galbanum and onycha and stacte
and like the vapor of frankincense in a
         tent.

¹⁶ I, like a terebinth, spread out my
         branches,

and my branches were branches of glory
and grace.

¹⁷ I, like a vine, budded forth favor,
and my blossoms were the fruit of glory
         and wealth.

[18 I am a mother of love that is beautiful, and of
         reverence]

[and of knowledge and of devout hope,]

[and I give it^b together with all my children;]
[they are ever-generating, to those who are
         being picked by him.]

¹⁹ “Come to me, you who desire me,
and from my produce be filled.

²⁰ For the memory of me is sweet beyond
         honey,

and the inheritance of me beyond a
honeycomb of honey.

²¹ Those who eat me will hunger for more,
and those who drink me will thirst for
         more.

²² He who obeys me will not be ashamed,
and those who work with me will not
         sin.”

²³ All these things are the book of the
         covenant of the Most High God,
a law that Moyses commanded us,
an inheritance for the gatherings of
         Iakob.

[24 Do not cease to be strong in the Lord,]
[and cling to him so that he might strengthen
         you.]

[The Lord Almighty alone is God,]
[and there is no savior beside him.]

²⁵ It fills wisdom like Phison
and like Tigris in days of new things^c.

²⁶ It supplies understanding like Euphrates
and like Jordan in days of harvest,

²⁷ It shines forth education like light,
like Geon in days of vintage.

²⁸ The first man did not complete knowing
         her^d,
and so the last one did not track her out;

²⁹ for her thought was filled from the sea,
and her counsel from the great abyss.

³⁰ And I, like a canal from a river
and a water channel, issued forth into an
         orchard.

³¹ I said, “I will water my garden,
and I will drench my flower bed.”

And look! The canal turned into a river for
         me,
and my river turned into a sea.

³² Still I will again make education enlighten
         like dawn,
and I will shine them^e forth to far off.

³³ Still I will again pour out teaching like
         prophecy,

and I will leave it behind for generations
of eternity.

³⁴ See that I have not toiled for myself alone
but for all who seek it^f out.

25 My soul found passion in three things,
and these are beautiful before the Lord
        and human beings:

harmony of brothers and friendship of
         fellows

and a wife and husband who
accommodate each other.

² But three kinds my soul hates,
and I was offended at their life:

an arrogant poor person and a rich liar,
an old adulterer lacking in
         understanding.

³ If in youth you have not gathered,
how then in your old age could you
         find?

⁴ How beautiful a thing is judgment in gray-
         haired women,
and to discover counsel in elderly men,

⁵ How beautiful is the wisdom of aged
         persons
and thought and counsel in venerable
         persons.

⁶ A garland of aged persons is great
         experience,
and their boast is fear of the Lord.

⁷ Nine suppositions I deem happy in my^a
         heart.
and a tenth I will speak with my^a tongue:

a person who is glad over children,
who lives and looks at the downfall of
         his enemies.

⁸ Happy is he who dwells with a sensible wife
and who did not slip with the tongue
and who did not become a slave to one
         unworthy of himself.

⁹ Happy is he who found prudence,
and he who recounts to the ears of
         people who listen.

¹⁰ How great is he who finds wisdom,
but there is none above him who fears
         the Lord.

¹¹ Fear of the Lord surpassed everything;
he who possesses it—to whom shall he
         be compared?

[12 Fear of the Lord is the beginning of loving
         him,]

[but faith is the beginning of clinging to
him.]

¹³ Any wound, and not a wound of the heart,
and any wickedness, and not the
         wickedness of a woman;

¹⁴ any attack, and not the attack of those who
         hate,

and any vengeance, and not the
vengeance of enemies.

¹⁵ There is no head beyond a snake’s head,
and there is no anger beyond a woman’s
         anger.

¹⁶ I shall be content to live with lion and
         dragon,
rather than to live with a wicked woman.

¹⁷ A woman’s wickedness alters her
         appearance,
and it darkens her face like a bear.

¹⁸ Among his neighbors her husband will
         recline
and involuntarily groaned bitter things.

¹⁹ Any evil is small touching a woman’s evil;
may a sinner’s lot of befall her.

²⁰ A sandy ascent for the feet of an elderly
         man,

so is a garrulous woman to a quiet
husband.

²¹ Do not fall down upon a woman’s beauty,
and do not yearn after a woman.

²² Wrath and shamelessness and great disgrace
         is a wife
if she provides for her husband.

²³ A dejected heart and a sullen face
and a wound of the heart is a wicked
         wife;

slack hands and weakened knees
are from a woman who does not make
         her husband happy.

²⁴ From a woman is the beginning of sin,
and because of her we all die.

²⁵ Do not give water an outlet
nor freedom of speech to a wicked wife.

²⁶ If she does not walk ^baccording to your
         hands^b,
^ccut her off from your flesh^c.

26 Happy is the husband of a good wife,
and doubled is the number of his days.

² A courageous wife gladdens her husband,
and he will fulfill his years in peace.

³ A good wife is a good portion;
she will be given as a portion to the one
         who fears the Lord.

⁴ When rich or poor, a good heart,
at every moment a cheerful face!

⁵ Of three things was my heart wary,
and in the face of a fourth I was frightened:

a slander by a city, an assembly of a mob
and false accusation, all miserable
         beyond death!

⁶ Pain of heart and sorrow is a woman who is
         a rival to a wife,

and a lash of a tongue is she who shares
with everyone.

⁷ A chafing ox-yoke is a wicked wife;
he who holds her is like him who grasps
         a scorpion.

⁸ A great wrath is a drunken wife,
and her shameful conduct she will not
         hide.

⁹ A wife’s fornication is in her eyes’ haughty
         looks,
and it will be recognized in her eyelids.

¹⁰ Over a wanton daughter keep strict watch,
otherwise when she discovers release for
         herself, she will use it,

¹¹ After an impudent eye watch out,
and do not be surprised if she does
         wrong to you.

¹² When a traveler is thirsty, he will open his
         mouth

and will drink from any water that is
near;

she will sit opposite every stake^d
and she will open quiver to arrow.

¹³ A wife’s charm will delight her husband,
and her skill will put fat on his bones.

¹⁴ A gift from the Lord is a silent wife,
and there is no exchange for her
         disciplined soul.

¹⁵ Charm upon charm is a modest wife,
and there is no standard weight good
         enough for a self-controlled soul.

¹⁶ When the sun rises in the heights of the
         Lord—also a good wife’s beauty, an ornament of
her home.

¹⁷ When a lamp shines forth upon a holy
         lampstand—
also beauty of face upon stable age.

¹⁸ Golden pillars upon a silver base—
also beautiful legs upon well-balanced
         feet.

[19 Child, preserve intact the prime of your
         adulthood,]

[and do not give your strength to
strangers.]

[20 When you have sought out a fertile plot of an
         entire plain,]

[sow your own seed confident in your
excellent descent.]

[21 Thus, your offspring, surrounding you]

[and having the confidence of excellent
descent, will become great.]

[22 A hired woman will be regarded as equal to
         spittle,]

[but a married one will be regarded as a
tower of death to those who use
her^a.]

[23 An impious woman will be given as a portion to
         a lawless man,]

[but a pious woman is given to him who
fears the Lord.]

[24 A shameless woman will exhaust
         dishonor,]

[but a decorous daughter will revere even her
husband.]

[25 A wanton wife will be regarded as a dog,]

[but she who has shame will fear the
Lord.]

[26 A woman who honors her own husband will
         appear wise to everyone,]

[but she who dishonors him with arrogance
will be known to all as impious.]

[Happy is the husband of a good wife,]
[for the number of his years will be
         double.]

[27 A loud-mouthed and talkative wife]
[like a trumpet of war will observe a rout,]

[and the soul of any person who lives in a
         manner like these]
[will lead his life in the confusions of war.]

²⁸ By two things has my heart been grieved,
and by a third anger came upon me:

a warrior wanting on account of indigence
and intelligent men when they are treated
         contemptuously:

a person brought from righteousness to
         sin,
the Lord will prepare him for the sword.

²⁹ A merchant will scarcely be delivered from
         wrongdoing,

and a retailer will not be innocent of
sin.

27 Many have sinned on account of cash,
and he who seeks to increase will avert an
        eye.

² Between joints of stones a peg will be
         driven,

and between selling and buying sin will
be wedged.

³ If one does not hold fast in fear of the Lord,
quickly, with speed, his house will be
         overthrown.

⁴ With a shaking of a sieve, refuse remains—
so a person’s offal in his reasoning.

⁵ A kiln tests a potter’s vessels,
and a person’s test is in his deliberation.

⁶ Its fruit brings to light a tree’s cultivation—
so reasoning notions of a person’s heart.

⁷ Before reasoning do not commend a man,
for this is the test of people.

⁸ If you pursue what is just, you will take hold
and wear it like a full-length robe of
         glory.

⁹ Birds will nest with those like them,
and truth will come back to those who
         practice it.

¹⁰ A lion lies in wait for prey,
so sin for people who practice injustices.

¹¹ The narrative of a pious person is always
         wisdom,
but the fool changes like the moon.

¹² In the midst of unintelligent persons watch
         closely for occasion,

but in the midst of thoughtful persons
keep going.

¹³ The narrative of foolish persons is an
         offense,

and their laughter is in wantonness of
sin.

¹⁴ Talk with much swearing will make the hair
         stand on end,
and their strife is a stopping up of ears.

¹⁵ A shedding of blood is the strife of the
         arrogant,
and their railing is miserable to hear.

¹⁶ He who reveals secrets has destroyed trust
and will never find a friend for his soul.

¹⁷ Show a friend affection, and keep faith with
         him,

but if you reveal his secrets, do not follow
after him.

¹⁸ For just as a person ^bdestroyed his corpse^b,
so you destroyed your fellow’s friendship.

¹⁹ And as you let a bird go free from your
         hand,

so you let go of your fellow, and you will
not catch him.

²⁰ Do not pursue him, because he has
         withdrawn far off, and he has escaped like a gazelle from a
trap.

²¹ Because it is possible to bind up a wound,
there is also reconciliation for abuse,
but he who revealed secrets was without
         hope.

²² One who winks an eye devises evil things,
and he who knows him will turn away
         from him.

²³ Before your eyes his mouth will be sweet,
and at your words he will be amazed,

but later he will distort his mouth,
and with your words he will give
         offense.

²⁴ I hated many things, and I did not become
         like him,
and the Lord will hate him.

²⁵ He who throws a stone high up throws on
         his head,

and a treacherous blow will open up
wounds.

²⁶ He who digs a hole will fall into it,
and he who sets a trap will get caught in
         it.

²⁷ He who does wickedness—it will be rolled
         onto him,

and he will never recognize whence it has
come to him.

²⁸ Mocking and reproach belong to an
         arrogant person,

and vengeance, like a lion, will lie in wait
for him.

²⁹ Those who are glad at the fall of pious
         persons will get caught in a snare,

and sorrow will consume them before
their death.

³⁰ Ire and anger, these also are abominations,
and a sinful man will have possession of
         them.

28 He who avenges will discover vengeance
       from the Lord,
and when he observes carefully, he^a will
         carefully observe his sins.

² Forgive your neighbor a wrong,
and then, when you petition, your sins
         will be pardoned.

³ A person harbors wrath against a person—
and will he seek healing from the Lord?

⁴ Does he not have mercy on a person like
         himself
and petition concerning his sins?

⁵ His being flesh maintains ire—
who will make atonement for his sins?

⁶ Remember the end things, and cease to be
         at enmity;

remember^b corruption and death, and
cleave to the commandments.

⁷ Remember commandments, and do not be
         irate with your fellow,
and remember^b the covenant of the Most
         High, and overlook a mistake^c.

⁸ Refrain from strife, and you will reduce sins,
for a hot-tempered person will kindle
         strife

⁹ and a sinful man will disturb friends,
and among people at peace he will cast
         slander.

¹⁰ In proportion to a fire’s wood, so will it
         burn,

and in proportion to the obstinacy of
strife, it will increase;

in proportion to a person’s strength, will his
         anger be,

and in proportion to his wealth, he will
raise up his wrath.

¹¹ A quarrel being hastened kindles a fire,
and strife in a hurry sheds blood.

¹² If you blow on a spark, it will flame up,
and if you spit on it, it will be
         extinguished,

and both will proceed out of your
mouth.

¹³ Curse a slanderous and double-tongued
         person,

for he has destroyed many who are at
peace.

^{14 d} A third tongue^d has shaken many
and separated them from nation to
         nation

and demolished strong cities
and overturned the houses of nobles.

^{15 d}A third tongue^d has cast out courageous
         women
and deprived them of their labors.

¹⁶ He who pays heed to it will never find rest,
nor will he encamp with quiet.

¹⁷ A whip’s blow produces a welt,
but a tongue’s blow will break bones.

¹⁸ Many have fallen by a dagger’s edge,
but not like those who have fallen
         because of a tongue.

¹⁹ Happy is the one protected from it,
who has not endured in its anger,

who has not dragged its yoke
and with its fetters has not been bound.

²⁰ For its yoke is a yoke of iron,
and its fetters are fetters of bronze.

²¹ A wicked death is its death,
and Hades is more advantageous than it.

²² It will never prevail over pious persons,
and in its flame they will not be burned.

²³ Those who forsake the Lord will fall into it,
and in them it will burn, and it will never
         be extinguished;

it will be sent after them like a lion,
and like a leopard it will injure them.

^24a See! Fence your property with thorns,

^25b     and make for your mouth a door and a
         bolt.

^24b Lock up your silver and gold,

^25a     and make for your words a balance and a
         weight.

²⁶ Take heed lest you slip by it;
do not fall before one who lies in wait.

29 He who does mercy will lend to his fellow,
and he who prevails with his hand keeps
        the commandments.

² Lend to your fellow in his time of need,
and again pay back your fellow at the
         proper time.

³ Firmly establish a word, and be trustworthy
         with him,

and on every occasion you will find what
you need.

⁴ Many regarded a loan as a windfall,
and they caused trouble for those who
         helped them.

⁵ Until he receives it, he will kiss his hands,
and about his fellow’s money he lowers
         his^a voice,

and at the moment for repayment he will
         delay for time
and will pay back words of apathy,
and he will blame the time.

⁶ If he is capable, he will recover scarcely
         half,
and he will consider that as a windfall;

but if not, he has defrauded him of his
         money,

and he has needlessly made him an
enemy;

curses and insults he will repay him,
and instead of glory he will repay him
         dishonor.

⁷ Many turned away not because of
         wickedness;

they were wary of being defrauded
needlessly.

⁸ Nevertheless, with a lowly person be
         patient,
and do not make him wait for charity.

⁹ On account of the commandment, assist a
         needy person,

and according to his need do not turn
him away empty.

¹⁰ Lose silver for the sake of a brother and a
         friend,

and do not let it corrode under the stone
unto destruction.

¹¹ Dispose of your treasure according to the
         commandments of the Most High,
and it will profit you more than gold.

¹² Store up charity in your treasuries,
and it will deliver you from every
         affliction.

¹³ More than a shield of might and more than
         a spear of weight,

it will fight against your enemy on your
behalf.

¹⁴ A good man will give surety for his fellow,
and he who lost shame will abandon
         him.

¹⁵ A guarantor’s kindness do not forget,
for he gave his soul on your behalf.

¹⁶ A guarantor’s goods a sinner will ruin,

¹⁷      and an ungrateful person will
         intentionally abandon one who
         rescues.

¹⁸ Surety destroyed many who were prosperous
and tossed them about like a wave of the
         sea;

powerful men it exiled,
and they wandered among foreign
         nations.

¹⁹ A sinner will fall into surety,
and as he pursues profit-taking, he will
         fall into lawsuits.

²⁰ Assist your fellow according to your
         ability,

and take care for yourself that you do not
fall.

²¹ Life’s beginning is water and bread and
         clothing
and a house for hiding indecency.

²² Better is the life of a poor person under a
         shelter of rafters
than splendid foods among strangers.

²³ With little or much have contentment,
and you will never hear reproach for
         being a sojourner.

²⁴ It is a miserable life going^a from house to
         house,
and where you will be a sojourner, you
         shall not open your mouth.

²⁵ You will entertain and provide drink for no
         thanks,

and besides, you will hear bitter words
such as these,

²⁶ “Come here, sojourner; prepare a table,
and if there is something in your hand,
         feed me.”

²⁷ “Go away, sojourner, because of good
         repute;

my brother came to me for a visit; I need
the house.”

²⁸ These are hard things for a person with
         pride,

criticism about being a sojourner and
reproach from a money-lender.

CONCERNING CHILDREN

30 He who loves his son will persist in
         whipping him
so that he may be glad at his outcome.

² He who instructs his son will profit by him,
and among acquaintances he will boast
         about him.

³ He who teaches his son will make his
         enemy envious,
and before friends he will exult in him.

⁴ His father passed away and is as though he
         did not die,

for he left behind him a person like
himself.

⁵ In his life he saw and was glad,
and at his end he was not grieved.

⁶ Against enemies he has left behind an
         avenger

and one who repays a kindness to
friends.

⁷ When one cherishes a son, one will bind up
         his wounds,

and with every cry one’s insides will be
troubled.

⁸ An unbroken horse turns out stubborn,
and a son when given free reign turns out
         rash.

⁹ Coddle a child, and it will terrorize you;
play with him, and he will grieve you.

¹⁰ Do not laugh together with him, lest you
         suffer together,

and in the end you will gnash your
teeth.

¹¹ Do not give him license in his youth,
[and do not overlook his ignorances.]

¹² [Bend his neck in youth.]

Bruise his sides while he is an infant,
lest, when he becomes stubborn, he will
         disobey you,

[and you will have distress of soul from him.]

¹³ Instruct your son, and work with him,
lest by his disgraceful behavior you
         become offended.

¹⁴ Better a poor person healthy and strong in
         constitution
than a rich person scourged in his body.

¹⁵ Health and vigor are better than any gold,
and a robust spirit than boundless
         worldly weal.

CONCERNING FOODS

¹⁶ There is no wealth better than health of
         body,

and there is no gladness beyond joy of
heart.

¹⁷ Better death than a bitter life,
and eternal repose than chronic
         sickness.

¹⁸ Good things poured out on a mouth that is
         shut
are offerings of food set on a grave.

¹⁹ Of what use is a fruit offering to an idol?
For it will neither eat nor smell.

⁽²⁰⁾ So is he who is banished by the Lord.

²⁰⁽²¹⁾ Whoever sees with the eyes and groans
is like a eunuch who embraces a maiden
         and groans.

[Thus is he who makes judgments by
         compulsion.]

²¹⁽²²⁾ Do not give your soul to grief,
and do not afflict yourself by your design.

²²⁽²³⁾Gladness of heart is life for a person,
and exultation is a man’s length of days.

²³⁽²⁴⁾Deceive your soul, and comfort your heart,
and remove grief far from you.

⁽²⁵⁾ For many has grief destroyed,
and there is no advantage in it.

²⁴⁽²⁶⁾Jealousy and anger lessen days,
and before the proper time anxiety brings
         old age.

^{25(27; 33.13b)} A cheerful and good heart at meats
will take care of its food.

31 ^(34).1Wakefulness over wealth wastes away
       flesh,
and anxiety about it removes sleep.

² Anxiety over wakefulness will remove
         sleepiness,
and a severe illness will carry off sleep.

³ A rich person toiled at the accumulation of
         money,
and in rest he fills himself with his
         delicacies.

⁴ A poor person toiled for a diminution of
         life,
and in rest he becomes needy.

⁵ He who loves gold will not be justified,
and he who pursues profits will be led
         astray by them.

⁶ Many were given over to ruin because of
         gold,

and their destruction has happened in
front of them.

⁷ It is a block for stumbling for those who are
         possessed by it,
and every fool will be taken captive by it.

⁸ Happy is a rich person who was found
         blameless
and who did not go after gold.

⁹ Who is he and shall we call him happy?
For he did wonders among his people.

¹⁰ Who has been tested by it and been made
         perfect?
And it will be as a boast for him.

Who was able to transgress and did not
         transgress,
and to do evil and did not do so?

¹¹ Therefore his good things will be confirmed,
and his acts of charity an assembly will
         recount.

¹² Were you seated at a great table?
Do not open your throat at it.

⁽¹³⁾ And do not say, “Indeed how many are the
         things on it!”

¹³⁽¹⁴⁾Remember that a wicked eye is an evil thing.

⁽¹⁵⁾ What was created more wicked than an
         eye?

Therefore it sends tears from a whole
face.

¹⁴⁽¹⁶⁾Do not extend a hand for whatever you
         see,

⁽¹⁷⁾       and do not crowd for it at a bowl.

¹⁵⁽¹⁸⁾Consider the things of your fellow ^afrom
         yourself^a,
and about every matter be thoughtful.

¹⁶⁽¹⁹⁾Eat like a human being the things set before
         you,
and do not chomp, lest you be hated.

¹⁷⁽²⁰⁾ Be the first to stop, due to your training,
and do not be gluttonous, lest you give
         offense.

¹⁸⁽²¹⁾ And if you sat among rather many,
do not extend your hand before they do.

¹⁹⁽²²⁾For the person of education the little is as
         enough,

and upon his bed he does not gasp for
breath.

²⁰⁽²⁴⁾ A sleep of health due to a moderate bowel!
He rose early and his soul with him.

⁽²³⁾ The pain of sleeplessness and of nausea
and colic are with the gluttonous man.

²¹⁽²⁵⁾ And if you were overpowered by foods,
get up, and vomit a distance away, and
         you will have rest.

²²⁽²⁶⁾Listen, child, and do not scorn me,
and in the end you will acquire my
         words;

⁽²⁷⁾ in all of your works be skillful,
and no illness will ever come upon you.

²³⁽²⁸⁾Lips will bless a person munificent with
         respect to bread,

and trustworthy is the testimony to his
fine quality.

²⁴⁽²⁹⁾The city will murmur about a wicked one
         for bread,

and accurate is the testimony to his
wickedness.

²⁵⁽³⁰⁾ With wine do not be macho,
for wine has destroyed many.

²⁶⁽³¹⁾ A furnace tests steel by dipping;
thus wine tests^b hearts in strife of the
         proud.

²⁷⁽³²⁾Equal to life is wine for human beings,
if you drink it in ^cits measure^c.

⁽³³⁾ What is life to one who lacks wine?

⁽³⁵⁾       And it was created from the beginning for
         gladness.

²⁸⁽³⁶⁾Joy of heart and gladness of soul
is sufficient wine drunk at the proper
         time.

²⁹⁽³⁹⁾Bitterness of soul is much wine drunk
amid provocation and stumbling.

³⁰⁽⁴⁰⁾ Drunkenness increases a fool’s temper for
         hurt,
since it reduces strength and adds
         wounds.

³¹⁽⁴¹⁾ At a banquet of wine do not reprove your
         fellow,
and do not scorn him in his gladness;

⁽⁴²⁾ do not speak to him a word of reproach,
and do not distress him with demanding
         repayment.

32 ^(35).1They appointed you leader; do not
         exalt yourself;

be among them as one of them;

⁽²⁾ take thought for them, and then sit
         down.

² And when you have performed all your
         service, recline

⁽³⁾      so that you may be merry on account of
         them,

and due to your good conduct you might
receive a garland.

³⁽⁴⁾ Speak, O elderly person, for it is fitting for
         you,

⁽⁵⁾      with accurate knowledge, and do not
         interrupt the music.

⁴⁽⁶⁾ Where there is entertainment, do not pour
         out talk,
and do not be smart at an inopportune
         moment.

⁵⁽⁷⁾ A ruby seal on a gold ornament
is a concert of music at a banquet of
         wine.

⁶⁽⁸⁾ An emerald seal in a gold setting
is a melody of music with sweet wine.

⁷⁽¹⁰⁾ Speak, O young person, if you have need,

⁽¹¹⁾      only twice if you were asked;

⁸⁽¹²⁾ Summarize your speech; in a few things
         there are many;

be as one who knows and at the same
time one who is silent.

⁹⁽¹³⁾ In the midst of nobles do not exercise
         authority,

and where there are old men, do not
prate about many things.

¹⁰⁽¹⁴⁾ Before thunder lightning hastens,
and goodwill will go before a modest
         person.

¹¹⁽¹⁵⁾ Awaken in time, and do not bring up the
         rear;
depart for home, and do not be idle.

¹²⁽¹⁶⁾There play, and do the things you desire,
and do not sin by arrogant speech.

¹³⁽¹⁷⁾And in addition, bless the one who made
         you
and intoxicates you with his good things.

¹⁴⁽¹⁸⁾He who fears the Lord will accept
         instruction,

and those who rise early will find
approval.

¹⁵⁽¹⁹⁾He who seeks the law will be filled with it,
and he who is hypocritical will stumble
         on it.

¹⁶⁽²⁰⁾ Those who fear the Lord will get a verdict,
and they will kindle right acts like a
         light.

¹⁷⁽²¹⁾ A sinful person will turn away reproof,
and according to his will, he will find a
         judgment.

¹⁸⁽²²⁾A man of deliberation will never overlook a
         thought;

the stranger and the arrogant will not
cower from fear.

¹⁹⁽²⁴⁾Do nothing without deliberation,
and do not feel regret when you have
         acted.

²⁰⁽²⁵⁾ On a path of stumbling do not go,
and do not stumble on rocky ground.

²¹ Do not trust an unexplored road,

²²⁽²⁶⁾and guard against your children.

²³⁽²⁷⁾In every deed trust your soul,
for this as well is a means of keeping the
         commandments.

²⁴⁽²⁸⁾He who has faith in the law attends to the
         commandments,

and he who trusts in the Lord will not
suffer loss.

33 ^(36).1 No evil will befall him who fears the
         Lord,
but in a test he will also be delivered in
         turn.

² A wise man will not hate the law,
but he who is hypocritical with it is like a
         boat in a storm.

³ An intelligent person will trust in a word,
and the law for him is as trustworthy

⁽⁴⁾      as an inquiry of the clear ones.

⁴ Prepare a speech, and so you will be heard;
consolidate instruction, and reply.

⁵ The emotions of a foolish person are like a
         wheel of a wagon,
and his argument is like a turning axle.

⁶ A ^ahorse for breeding^a is like a mocking
         friend;

underneath anyone who sits on him, he
whinnies.

⁷ Why is a day superior to a day,
when all the light of a day of a year is
         from the sun?

⁸ By the Lord’s knowledge they were marked
         off,
and he made seasons and feasts different.

⁹⁽¹⁰⁾ Some of them he exalted and hallowed,
and some of them he established for a
         number of days.

¹⁰ And all human beings are from the ground,
and out of earth Adam was created.

¹¹ In fullness of knowledge the Lord marked
         them off
and made their ways different.

¹² Some of them he blessed and exalted,
and some of them he hallowed and
         brought near to himself;

some of them he cursed and brought low
and turned them out of their position.

¹³ Like a potter’s clay in his hand,

⁽¹⁴⁾ to fashion it according to his liking,

so are human beings in the hand of him
         who made them,
to repay them according to his judgment.

¹⁴⁽¹⁵⁾Good is opposite evil,
and life is opposite death;
so a sinner is opposite a pious person.

¹⁵ And so look at all of the works of the Most
         High,
two by two, one opposite the other one.

¹⁶ As a last one, it was I who kept vigil,

^(30.25) as one who gleaned after the grape-
         pickers.

¹⁷⁽²⁵⁾By the blessing of the Lord I arrived first,
and like one who picks grapes I filled a
         wine vat.

¹⁸⁽²⁶⁾Consider that I have not labored for myself
         alone
but for all those who seek instruction.

¹⁹⁽²⁷⁾Listen to me, nobles of the people,
and leaders of the assembly, give ear.

²⁰⁽²⁸⁾ To son and wife, to brother and friend
do not give authority over you in your
         lifetime,

and do not give your property to another,
lest you change your mind and ask for it.

²¹⁽²⁹⁾ While you are still alive and there is breath
         in you,
do not exchange yourself with any flesh.

²²⁽³⁰⁾ For it is better that your children ask of you
than that you should look to the hands
         of your sons.

²³⁽³¹⁾ In all your works be one who excels;
do not bring a stain on your reputation.

²⁴⁽³²⁾In the day of the completion of the days of
         your life
and at the moment of death, distribute
         an inheritance.

²⁵⁽³³⁾Fodder and a rod and burdens for a donkey;
bread and instruction and work for a
         domestic.

²⁶⁽³⁴⁾ Work with instruction, and you will find rest;
let loose his hands, and he will seek
         freedom.

²⁷⁽³⁵⁾A yoke and a thong will bow a neck,
and for a wicked domestic there are racks
         and tortures.

²⁸⁽³⁶⁾Put him to work so that he might not be
         unoccupied,

²⁹⁽³⁷⁾for lack of work has taught much evil.

³⁰⁽³⁸⁾ Set him to work as is fitting for him,
and if he does not obey, make his fetters
         heavy.

And do not be excessive over any flesh,
and without judgment do not do
         anything.

³¹⁽³⁹⁾ If you have a domestic, let him be like you,
because with blood you acquired him; if you have a domestic, treat him like a
         brother,

because you will need him like your own
soul.

³²⁽⁴⁰⁾If you do him evil and he departs and runs
away,

³³ on which road will you seek him?

34 ^(31).1 A senseless man has empty and false
         hopes,
and dreams excite fools.

² Like one who grasps a shadow and pursues
         wind,
so is he who pays heed to dreams.

³ An appearance in dreams is ^athis against
         that^a,
a likeness of a face opposite a face.

⁴ Of an unclean thing what will become clean?
And of a false thing what will be true?

⁵ Divinations and omens and dreams are
         vain,

and as of a woman in labor the heart
fantasizes.

⁶ Unless it has been sent from the Most High
         by a visitation,
do not give your heart to them.

⁷ For dreams have deceived many,
and persons who hope in them have
         fallen.

⁸ Without falsehood the law will be
         accomplished,

and wisdom in a trustworthy mouth is
completeness.

⁹ Since a man roamed, he knew many things,
and he who is experienced will tell with
         understanding.

¹⁰ He who had no experience knows few
         things,

¹¹      but he who has roamed will increase
         cleverness.

¹² I have seen many things in my wandering,
and more than my words is my
         understanding.

¹³ Frequently I was in danger of death,
and I was saved because of these things.

¹⁴ The spirit of people who fear the Lord will
         live,

¹⁵      for their hope is in the one who saves
         them.

¹⁶ He who fears the Lord will be timid in
         nothing,

and he will never be cowardly, because
he^b is his hope.

¹⁷ Happy is the soul of one who fears the Lord.

¹⁸      Upon whom is he intent? And who is his
         support?

¹⁹ The eyes of the Lord are upon those who
         love him,

a shield of dominance and a support of
strength,

a shelter from the burning heat and shade
         from midday,

a guard against stumbling and a help
against falling,

²⁰ one who uplifts the soul and enlightens
         eyes,
gives healing of life and blessing.

²¹ When one sacrifices from someone unjust, it
         is a blameworthy offering,

²²      and the gifts of lawless persons are not
         for approval.

²³ The Most High is not pleased with the
         offerings of impious persons,

nor by a multitude of sacrifices does he
forgive sins.

²⁴ One who slaughters a son in front of his
         father

is he who brings a sacrifice from the
property of the needy.

²⁵ Bread is life for the poor when they are
         destitute;

he who withholds it^c is a person of
         blood.

²⁶ One who murders his fellow is he who takes
         away a way of living,

²⁷      and one who pours out blood is he who
         deprives the wages of a hired
         worker.

²⁸ One builds, and one tears down—
what did they gain more than hard
         labors?

²⁹ One prays, and one curses—
to whose voice will the master listen?

³⁰ When one bathes due to a corpse and when
         one touches it again—
what did he gain by his washing?

³¹ So is a person when he fasts for his sins
and goes again and does the same
         things;

who will listen to his prayer,
and what did he gain by humbling
         himself?

35 ^(32).1He who keeps the Law multiplies
         offerings.

² One who makes a sacrifice for deliverance
         is he who pays heed to the
         commandments.

³ One who repays a kindness is one who
         offers the finest flour,

⁴      and he who does an act of charity is one
         who makes a sacrifice of praise.

⁵ A good pleasure to the Lord it is to
         withdraw from wickedness,

and it is atonement to withdraw from
injustice.

⁶ Do not be seen empty in the presence of the
         Lord,

⁷      for all these things are for the sake of a
         commandment.

⁸ An offering of a righteous person enriches
         the altar,

and its pleasing odor is before the Most
         High.

⁹ A righteous man’s sacrifice is acceptable,
and its memorial will not be forgotten.

¹⁰ With ^aa good eye^a glorify the Lord,
and do not belittle the first fruit of your
         hands.

¹¹ With every act of giving brighten your face,
and with gladness consecrate a tithe.

¹² Give to the Most High according to his
         giving

and with ^aa good eye^a according to that
found at hand,

¹³ because the Lord is the one who repays,
and he will repay you sevenfold.

¹⁴ Do not offer a bribe, for he will not accept
         it,

¹⁵      and do not be intent on an unrighteous
         sacrifice,

because the Lord is judge,
and with him there is no reputation of
         person^b.

¹⁶ He will not ^creceive a person^b against a poor
         person^c,

and he will listen to the petition of one
who is wronged.

¹⁷ He will never ignore an orphan’s
         supplication,
nor a widow, if she pours out speech.

¹⁸ Do not a widow’s tears run down upon her
         cheek,

¹⁹      and is not her cry against the one who
         drew them down?

²⁰ One who serves with goodwill will be
         accepted,
and his petition will reach to the clouds.

²¹ A humble person’s prayer passed through
         the clouds,

and until it draws near, it will never
         relent,

and it will never desist until the Most High
         takes notice.

²²      And he will adjudicate for righteous
         persons and will execute judgment.

And the Lord will never be slow,
nor will he ever be patient regarding
         them

until he crushes the loins of unmerciful
         persons

²³      and will repay vengeance upon the
         nations,

until he removes the multitude of insolent
         persons

and will shatter the scepters of
unrighteous persons,

²⁴ until he repays a person according to his
         deeds

and the works of human beings
according to their notions,

²⁵ until he judges the case of his people
and will gladden them with his mercy.

²⁶ Timely is his mercy in a time of distress,
as are clouds of rain in a time of drought.

36 ^(33).1Have mercy on us, O Master, the god
         of all,

²      and cast the fear of you upon all the
         nations.

³ Lift up your hand against foreign nations,
and let them see your dominance.

⁴ Just as in their presence you have been
         made holy in us,

so in our presence may you be magnified
in them.

⁵ And let them know you, just as also we have
         known
that there is no god except you, O Lord.

⁶ Renew signs, and change wonders;

⁷      glorify hand and right arm.

⁸ Raise up anger, and pour out wrath;

⁹      destroy an adversary, and crush an enemy.

¹⁰ Hasten the time, and remember your
         determination,
and let them recount your mighty acts.

¹¹ In wrath of fire let him who survives be
         consumed,

and may those who harm your people
find destruction.

¹² Crush the heads of hostile rulers
who say, “There is no one except us!”

^(33).13Gather all the tribes of Iakob,

^(36).16and give them an inheritance, as from the
         beginning.

¹⁷ Have mercy on a people, O Lord, who have
         been called by your name,

and on Israel, whom you likened to a
first born.

¹⁸ Have pity on the city of your holy precinct,
Ierousalem the place of your rest.

¹⁹ Fill Sion with a celebration of your mighty
         acts,
and your shrine with your glory.

²⁰ Give testimony to your creations in the
         beginning,

and raise up prophecies that were in your
name.

²¹ Give a reward to those who wait for you,
and let your prophets be found
         trustworthy.

²² Hear, O Lord, a petition of your domestics
according to your good will concerning
         your people,

and all who are upon the earth will know
that you are the Lord, the God of the
         ages.

²³ Any food will the stomach eat,
but there exists food finer than food.

²⁴ The throat makes proof of foods from a
         hunt;
so an intelligent heart of false words.

²⁵ A perverse heart will give grief, but an experienced person will pay him^a
back.

²⁶ A woman will accept any male,
but there exists a daughter better than a
         daughter.

²⁷ A woman’s beauty brightens a face,
and it surpasses a person’s every desire.

²⁸ If mercy and gentleness are upon her
         tongue,

her husband is not like the sons of
human beings.

²⁹ He who acquires a wife makes a beginning
         of a possession,

a helper corresponding to him and a
pillar of rest.

³⁰ Where there is no fence, property will be
         plundered,

and where there is no wife, he will groan
as he wanders.

³¹ For who will trust an unencumbered robber
as he bounds from city to city?—

likewise a person who does not have a nest
and who lodges wherever night falls.

37 Every friend will say, “I, too, have been a
         friend,”
but there is a friend who is a friend in
         name only.

² Will not grief approach unto death,
when companion and friend turns into
         an enemy?

³ O evil notion, how were you involved,
to cover the dry land with deceit?

⁴ A friend’s companion delights in gladness,
and in a time of distress he will be
         opposite.

⁵ A companion suffers together with a friend
         for his stomach’s sake,

and in the face of battle he will take up a
shield.

⁶ Do not forget a friend in your soul,
and do not be unmindful of him in your
         money.

⁷ Every counselor exalts advice,
but there is one who counsels for himself.

⁸ Against a counselor guard your soul,
and know beforehand what is his need,
for he, too, will give advice for himself—

lest he cast a lot against you

⁹     and say to you, “Your way is fair,”

and he will stand aside to see what will
happen to you.

¹⁰ Do not consult with him who views you
         with suspicion,

and from those who are envious of you
hide deliberation:

¹¹ with a woman about her rival
and with a cowardly person about war,

with a merchant about business
and with one who buys about a sale,

with a slanderer about gratitude
and with an unmerciful person about
         generosity of heart,

with an idle person about any work
and with an annual laborer about
         finishing,

with an idle domestic about a large task.
Do not pay heed to these for any advice.

¹² But rather persevere with a pious man
whom you know to be one who keeps
         commandments,

who in his soul is like your soul,
and if you stumble, he will suffer with
         you.

¹³ And stand by your heart’s counsel,
for there is nothing more faithful to you
         than it.

¹⁴ For a man’s soul is accustomed to inform at
         times

more than seven sentinels sitting high up
on a lookout.

¹⁵ And above all these, beseech the Most
         High

so that he may make straight your way in
truth.

¹⁶ The beginning of every deed is discourse,
and before every action is counsel.

¹⁷ The track of change is the heart.

¹⁸      Four destinies appear,

good and evil, life and death,

and that which continually is lord over
them is the tongue.

¹⁹ There exists a clever man who is an
         instructor of many,
and to his own soul he is useless.

²⁰ There exists a person skilled in words who is
         hated;
this one will be lacking any luxury.

²¹ For charm has not been granted to him by
         the Lord,
because he is deprived of any wisdom.

²² There exists a person wise in his own soul,
and the fruits of his good sense are ^bon
         the body^b.

²³ A wise man will instruct his own people,
and the fruits of his understanding are
         reliable.

²⁴ A wise man will be full of blessing,
and all who see him will deem him
         happy.

²⁵ A man’s life is in a number of days,
and the days of Israel are without
         number.

²⁶ The wise person among his people will
         inherit honor,
and his name will live forever.

²⁷ Child, during your life test your soul,
and see what is bad for it, and do not
         give^c to it.

²⁸ For not everything confers benefit to
         everyone, and every soul is not pleased by
         everything.

²⁹ Do not be greedy for every delicacy,
and do not give yourself up to foods.

³⁰ For in much food there is illness,
and gluttony will bring one near to
         cholera.

³¹ Because of gluttony, many have died,
but he who pays attention will add to
         life.

38 Honor a physician for his services,
for indeed the Lord created him.

² For healing is from the Most High,
and he will receive a gift from a king.

³ A physician’s skill will put up his head,
and in the presence of nobles he will be
         admired.

⁴ The Lord created remedies out of the earth,
and a prudent man will not ignore them.

⁵ Was not water made sweet from wood
in order that his^a strength might be
         known?

⁶ And it was he that gave skill to human
         beings

in order to be glorified in his marvelous
deeds.

⁷ By them he^b cured and took away his^c pain.

⁸      He who prepares unguents will make a
         compound with them,

and his works will never be finished,
and peace from him is upon the surface
         of the earth.

⁹ Child, in your illness do not look elsewhere,
but pray to the Lord, and he will heal
         you.

¹⁰ Withdraw from error, and direct your
         hands,
and from all sin cleanse your heart.

¹¹ Give a sweet-smell and a memorial of fine
         flour,
and enrich an offering ^d…..^d.

¹² And give a physician a place, for indeed the
         Lord created him,

and do not let him withdraw from you,
for indeed there is need of him.

¹³ There is a time when success is in their
         hands as well.

¹⁴      For they will also petition the Lord,

that he might grant them success with rest
and healing for the maintenance of life.

¹⁵ He who sins before him who made him,
may he fall into a physician’s hands.

¹⁶ Child, let your tears fall over a corpse,
and as one suffering terribly begin a
         lament,

but in accordance with his decision lay out
         his body,
and do not neglect his^e burial.

¹⁷ Make the weeping bitter and the beating
          fervent,

and make mourning according to his
dignity,

for one day and two ^ffor the purpose of^f
         slander,
and be comforted for the sake of grief.

¹⁸ For from grief issues death,
and grief of the heart will cripple
         strength.

¹⁹ In misery^g grief too endures,
and a poor person’s life is a curse of the
         heart.

²⁰ Do not give your heart over to grief;
withdraw from it, when you remember
         the end.

²¹ Do not forget, for there is no return,
and him you will not benefit, and
         yourself you will harm.

²² Remember his judgment, because so is
         yours also.

For me yesterday; for you today!

²³ In the resting of the corpse, put to rest his
         memorial,

and be comforted by it in the departure
of his spirit.

²⁴ A scribe’s wisdom is in the opportunity for
         leisure,

and he who does less business, it is he
who will become wise.

²⁵ How shall he who takes hold of a plow
and boasts in the shaft of a goad become
         wise,

when he drives cattle and is engaged in their
         tasks

and his talk is about the offspring of
bulls?

²⁶ He will give his heart to producing furrows,
and his sleeplessness is regarding fodder
         for heifers.

²⁷ So every artisan and master-artisan,
who keeps going by night as by day,

those who cut signets of seals,
and his patience is to diversify
         ornamentation;

he will give his heart to making a painting
         lifelike,

and his sleeplessness is to complete the
work.

²⁸ So a smith sitting near an anvil
and examining closely works of iron;

the vapor of the fire will melt his flesh,
and with the heat of a furnace he will
         struggle;

a hammer’s sound will renew^h his ear,
and his eyes are againstⁱ the pattern of the
         object;

he will give his heart to completing works,
and his sleeplessness is to decorate upon
         completion.

²⁹ So a potter sitting at his work
and turning a wheel with his feet,

who always lies down in anxiety about his
         work,

and every work of his is taken into
account.

³⁰ With his arm he will mold clay
and in front of his feet he will ^abend its
         strength^a;

he will give over his heart to completing the
         glazing^b,

and his sleeplessness is about cleaning
the kiln.

³¹ All of these relied on their hands,
and each is skilled in his work.

³² Without them a city will not be inhabited,
and they will neither sojourn nor walk
         about,

but they will not be sought for a council of
the people.

³³      And they will not ^cleap up^c in the
         assembly.

On the judge’s seat they will not sit,
and disposition of a legal decision they
         will not understand,

and they will never shed light on instruction
         and judgment,

and in illustrations^d they will not be
         found,

³⁴ but they will support the foundation of an
         age,

and their need is in the execution of a
craft.

Save for him who devotes his soul

and who thinks about the law of the
Most High!

39 He will seek out the wisdom of all the
         ancients,
and he will be occupied with prophecies.

² He will preserve the narrative of famous
         men,

and he will penetrate into the twists of
illustrations.

³ He will seek out the obscurities of proverbs,
and he will be engaged with the riddles
         of illustrations.

⁴ He will serve among nobles,
and he will appear in front of rulers.

He will travel in the land of foreign nations,
for he has tested the good and bad things
         in people.

⁵ He will devote his heart to rise early
towards the Lord who made him,
and he will petition in front of the Most
         High,
and he will open his mouth in prayer,
and concerning his sins he will petition.

⁶ If the great Lord wants,
he will be filled with a spirit of
         understanding.

He will pour forth words of his wisdom,
and in prayer he will acknowledge the
         Lord.

⁷ He will direct counsel and knowledge,
and on his hidden things he will think.

⁸ He will illuminate the instruction of his
         teaching,

and in the law of the Lord’s covenant he
         will boast.

⁹ Many will praise his understanding,
and it will never be blotted out;

his memorial will not depart,
and his name will live for generations of
         generations.

¹⁰ Nations will narrate his wisdom,
and an assembly will proclaim his praise.

¹¹ If he abides, he will leave behind a name
         greater than a thousand,
and if he rests, it will be favorable for him.

¹² Yet being so disposed, I will tell in detail,
and I was filled like the full moon.

¹³ Listen to me, O devout sons, and blossom
like a rose growing by a watery stream.

¹⁴ Like incense send out a sweet fragrance,
and send forth a blossom like a lily.

Spread abroad a voice, and praise together,
and bless the Lord for all his works.

¹⁵ Give majesty to his name,
and acknowledge with praise of him,

with songs on the lips and with cinyras^e,
and in this manner you will speak with
         acknowledgement.

¹⁶ “All the works of the Lord, that they are very
         good,

and every ordinance will occur in its
time.

¹⁷ It is not possible to say, ‘What is this? To
         what end is this?’

For everything will be sought out in its
time.

By his word water stood as a heap,
and by an utterance of his mouth,
         reservoirs of water.

¹⁸ By his ordinance is all good pleasure,
and there is no one who will diminish
         his salvation.

¹⁹ The works of all flesh are before him,
and it is not possible to hide from his
         eyes.

²⁰ From age to age he watched,
and nothing is a wonder before him.

²¹ It is not possible to say, ‘What is this? To
         what end is this?’

For all things have been created for their
         uses.

²² “His blessing has covered over like a river,
and like a flood it has drenched dry land.

²³ Thus his anger will inherit nations
as when he changed waters into salt
         water.

²⁴ His ways are straight for the devout;
so for the lawless there are pitfalls.

²⁵ Good things have been created from the
         beginning for the good;
so for sinners, evil things.

²⁶ The beginning of every necessity for a
         human being’s life
is water and fire and iron and salt

and fine wheat flour and milk and honey,
blood of a grape and oil and clothing.

²⁷ All these things belong to the pious for
         good;

so for sinners they will be turned into
evil.

²⁸ “There exist winds^a that have been created
         for vengeance,

and in their wrath they made firm their
         scourges;

at a time of consummation they will pour
         out strength,

and the wrath of him who made them
         they will abate.

²⁹ Fire and hail and famine and death,
all these have been created for vengeance.

³⁰ Teeth of wild beasts and scorpions and
         vipers

and a sword taking vengeance on
impious people for destruction.

³¹ In his commandment they will be
         gladdened,

and they will be prepared for service on
the earth,

and at their times they will not transgress
a word.”

³² Therefore from the beginning I was
         determined,
and I thought, and I left it in writing.

³³ The works of the Lord, all are good,
and every need he will supply in its hour.

³⁴ And it is not possible to say, “This is worse
         than this,”

for all things will be highly esteemed at a
right time.

³⁵ And now with a whole heart and mouth
         sing hymns,
and bless the name of the Lord.

40 A great engagement was created for every
         person,
and a heavy yoke is on Adam’s sons

from the day of their exit from their
         mother’s womb

until the day of return to the mother of
all:

² their considerations and fear of heart—
thought of apprehension, day of death.

³ From the one sitting on a splendid throne,
even to one humbled in earth and ashes,

⁴ from one wearing blue and a garland,
even to the one clothed in coarse linen—

⁵ there are wrath and envy and confusion and
         unrest
and fear of death and fury and strife.

Even at the moment of rest upon a bed,
sleep at night confuses his knowledge.

⁶ There is as little as nothing in rest,
and he grows weary of that in his sleep as
         he does in the day,

having been troubled by a vision of his
         heart,

like one who has escaped from before
war.

⁷ At the moment of his need, he awoke,
even marveling at fear for nothing.

⁸ With all flesh, from human to animal,
and upon sinners seven times more than
         these

⁹ are death and blood and strife and sword,
calamities, famine and ruin and scourge.

¹⁰ For the lawless all these things were created,
and because of them the flood occurred.

¹¹ Everything that is of earth reverts to the
         earth,
and everything^b of water returns to the sea.

¹² Every gift and injustice will be blotted out,
but good faith will stand forever.

¹³ The money of the unjust will dry up like a
         river,

and like loud thunder in a rain storm
it will crash.

¹⁴ When he opens his^b hands, he will be glad;
so those who transgress will fail at the
         end.

¹⁵ The offspring of impious persons will not
         multiply branches,
and they are foul roots upon a sheer rock.

¹⁶ A reed by any water and river bank
will be plucked up before any grass.

¹⁷ Kindness is like an orchard with blessings,
but an act of charity will endure forever.

¹⁸ The life of a self-reliant and a hard-working
         person will be sweet,

and above both is he who finds a
treasure.

¹⁹ Children and the building of a city firmly fix
         a name,

and above both is a wife considered
blameless.

²⁰ Wine and music gladden a heart,
and above both is love of wisdom.

²¹ Flute and harp make sweet melodies,
and above both is a pleasant tongue.

²² Grace and beauty the eye will desire,
and above both are the first shoots of
         seed.

²³ Friend and companion meet at the right
         moment, and above both is a wife with a husband.

²⁴ Brothers and aid are for a time of distress,
and more than both an act of charity will
         rescue.

²⁵ Gold and silver make a foot firm,
and above both counsel is highly
         esteemed.

²⁶ Money and strength will lift up a heart,
and above both is fear of the Lord;

there is no want in the fear of the Lord,
and with it there is no reason to seek aid.

²⁷ Fear of the Lord is like an orchard of
         blessing,
and more than any glory it covers him.

²⁸ Child, a life of begging do not live;
it is better to die than to beg.

²⁹ When a man looks to a table belonging to
         another,

his manner of living is not ^aby reckoning
a life^a;

he will pollute his soul with food belonging
         to others,

but a man who is intelligent and who has
been instructed will be on guard.

³⁰ In the mouth of a shameless person begging
         will be sweet,
and in his belly a fire will burn.

41 O death, how bitter is the remembrance of
         you
   to a person at peace with his possessions,

to a man undistracted and prospering in
         everything

and still having strength to welcome a
         luxury.

² O death, your judgment is good
to a person who is needy and lacking
         strength,

who is in extreme old age and is anxious
         about everything

and who is disobedient and has lost
hope.

³ Do not be wary of death’s judgment;
remember those before you and the last
         ones.

⁴ This is the judgment from the Lord for all
         flesh—

and why should you reject the good
pleasure of the Most High?

Whether ten or a hundred or a thousand
         years,
in Hades there is no reproving of life.

⁵ Abominable children are children of
         sinners,

and living together in the enclaves of
impious persons.

⁶ The inheritance of the children of sinners
         will perish,

and disgrace will continually be with
their seed.

⁷ Children will blame an impious father,
because on his account they will be
         reproached.

⁸ Woe to you, impious men,
who have forsaken the law of the Most
         High.

⁹ [For if you multiply, it is for destruction,]

and if you are born, you will be born for
a curse,

and if you die, you will be apportioned a
curse.

¹⁰ Everything that is from the earth will go
         back into the earth;

so impious persons are from a curse to
destruction.

¹¹ The grief of human beings is in their bodies,
but a no-good name of sinners will be
         blotted out.

¹² Have regard for a name, for it will endure
         for you

rather than a thousand great treasures of
gold.

¹³ Of a good life there is a number of days,
but a good name will endure forever.

¹⁴ Maintain instruction in peace, children,

but hidden wisdom and invisible treasure—
what profit is in either?

¹⁵ Better is a person who conceals his
         foolishness
than a person who conceals his wisdom.

¹⁶ Therefore show respect for my judgment,
for it is not good to guard against every
         shame,

and not everything will be approved by
all with confidence.

¹⁷ Be ashamed

before father and mother, of sexual
         immorality,

and before leader and dynast, of
falsehood,

¹⁸ before judge and magistrate, of error,
and before a gathering and people, of
         lawlessness,

before partner and friend, of injustice,

¹⁹      and before a place where you sojourn, of
         theft,

before divine truth and covenant
and before planting an elbow for bread,

before damning in receiving and giving

²⁰     and before people who greet, of silence,

before a look at a female escort

²¹ and before turning away from the face of a
         relative,

before taking away a portion and a gift
and before ogling a married woman,

²² before meddling with his servant girl—
and do not come upon her bed—

before friends, of words of reproach—
and after giving, do not reproach,

42 before repeating a word of hearsay
and before disclosing secret words,

and you will be truly modest
and finding favor before every human.

Do not be ashamed of these things,
and do not ^areceive a face^a in order to
         sin:

² of the law of the Most High and covenant
and of judgment so as to justify the
         impious,

³ of an account of a partner or travelers
and of giving an inheritance of others,

⁴ of accuracy with scale and weights
and of acquiring much or little,

⁵ of profit from business of merchants
and of much discipline of children
and to draw blood from the side of a
         wicked domestic.

⁶ In the case of a wicked wife, a seal is
         excellent,
and where there are many hands, lock up.

⁷ Whatever you hand over—by number and
         weight

and giving or receiving—put everything
in writing.

^{8 b}Do not be ashamed^b of discipline for the
         stupid and foolish

and for the aged guilty of sexual
immorality,

and you will have truly been trained
and will have been approved before every
         living person.

⁹ A daughter is a hidden sleeplessness to a
         father,
and anxiety about her takes away sleep—

in her youth, lest she become past her
         prime,
and having married, lest she be hated,

¹⁰ in virginity, lest she be defiled
and she become pregnant in her father’s
         house,

being with a man^c, lest she transgress,
and having married, lest she be barren.

¹¹ Over a wanton daughter keep strict guard,
lest she make you a laughingstock to
         enemies,

common talk in the city and summoned by
         the people,

and she shame you in a multitude of
         many.

¹² Do not look at any person in terms of
         beauty,

and in the midst of women do not
deliberate.

¹³ For from garments proceeds a moth,
and from a woman, woman’s wickedness.

¹⁴ Better the wickedness of a man than a well-
         doing woman

and a woman bringing shame to the
point of reproach.

¹⁵ I will indeed remember the works of the Lord,
and what I have seen, I will narrate;

by the words of the Lord are his works,
[and judgment happens by his good will.]

¹⁶ The shining sun looked down upon
         everything,

and its work is full of the glory of the
Lord.

¹⁷ He did not permit the holy ones of the Lord
to recount all his wonders

that the Lord the Almighty established
so that the universe might stand firm in
         his glory.

¹⁸ Abyss and heart he searched out,
and he considered their wonderful feats;

for the Most High knew all knowledge,
and he saw into the sign of the age,

¹⁹ relating the things that passed and the
         things that will be
and revealing tracks of hidden things.

²⁰ No thought eluded him,
and not one word was hidden from him.

²¹ He set in order the splendors of his
         wisdom;
since he is one before the age and forever,

he was neither added to nor diminished,
and he needed no one as a counselor.

²² How desirable are all his works,
and they are like a spark to behold.

²³ All these things live, and they remain forever,
in all functions, and all obey.

²⁴ Everything is in pairs, one opposite one,
and he did not make anything deficient.

²⁵ One firmed up the good things of the
         other—

nd who will be filled when he sees his
glory?

43 Exultation of height, firmament of
         elegance,
the form of the sky in a vision of glory!

² The sun in an appearance proclaiming in
         going out,

a wondrous object, a work of the Most
High!

³ At its noontide, it parches land—
and before its burning heat who will
         endure?

⁴ When one blows a furnace in works of
         burning heat,

threefold is the sun when it burns up
mountains.

When it breathes out fiery vapors
and when it shines forth rays, it blinds
         eyes.

⁵ Great is the Lord who made it,
and at his words it hastened on its
         journey.

⁶ And the moon stands in its season,
a proclamation of times and an
         everlasting sign.

⁷ From the moon is a sign for a feast,
a luminary that wanes upon completion.

⁸ A month is according to its name,
increasing marvelously in changing,

an object on high for armies,
shining in the firmament of the sky.

⁹ The glory of the stars is the beauty of the
         sky,

an ornament giving light in the heights of
the Lord.

¹⁰ By words of the Holy One they will stand
         according to decree,
and they will never fail in their watches.

¹¹ See the rainbow, and bless him who made it
exceedingly beautiful in its brightness.

¹² It ringed the sky in a circle of glory;
the hands of the Most High stretched it
         out.

¹³ By his ordinance he urges on snow
and speeds the lightnings of his
         judgment.

¹⁴ Therefore storehouses were opened,
and clouds flew out like birds.

¹⁵ In his majesty he made clouds strong,
and stones of hail were broken apart.

^17a The voice of his thunder caused the earth to
         be in travail,

¹⁶      and at his appearance mountains will be
         shaken.

By his will the south wind will blow,

^17b      also a storm from the north and a
         whirlwind.

Like birds flying down he sprinkles snow,
and like a locust alighting is its descent.

¹⁸ An eye will marvel at the beauty of its
         whiteness,
and a heart will be amazed by its rain.

¹⁹ And frost, like salt, he pours upon the earth,
and when it freezes, points of thorns
         occur.

²⁰ A cold north wind will blow,
and ice will freeze on water;

upon every gathering of water it will settle,
and like a breastplate the water will put it
         on.

²¹ He will consume mountains and will burn
         up wilderness,
and he will extinguish grass like fire.

²² A mist hastens healing for all things;
a dew that comes out will refresh from
         the heat.

²³ By his reasoning he abated the abyss,
and he planted islands in it.

²⁴ Those who sail the sea describe its danger,
and we marvel at the reports of our ears.

²⁵ The incredible and amazing works are
         there,

a variety of every living thing, a creation
of sea monsters.

²⁶ Because of him, his messenger succeeds,
and by his word all things hold together.

²⁷ Many things we might say, and we would
         never arrive,

and the consummation of words is “He is
the all.”

²⁸ Where shall we find the strength to glorify?

For he is the great one, beyond all of his
works.

²⁹ Awesome is the Lord and very great,
and marvelous is his dominance.

³⁰ Glorify the Lord, and exalt him
as much as you can, for he will surpass
         even still,

and exalt him, and increase in strength;
do not grow weary, for you will never
         arrive.

³¹ Who has seen him and will describe him?
And who will magnify him as he is?

³² Many things hidden are greater than these,
for few of his works we have seen.

³³ For the Lord made all things,
and to the pious he gave wisdom.

A HYMN TO THE FATHERS

44 Let us now praise famous men
and our fathers by descent.

² The Lord created much glory,
his majesty from eternity.

³ When they ruled in their kingdoms,
men also became noteworthy through
         power;

when they counseled with their
         intelligence,

when they announced through
         prophecies,

⁴ when they led people by deliberations
and with understanding of a people’s
         scribal art—

wise words there are in their
instruction—

⁵ when they searched out musical tunes
and set out verses in writing—

⁶ rich men well endowed with strength,
being at peace in their dwelling-places—

⁷ all of these were glorified in generations
and in their days were a boast.

⁸ There were some of them who left behind a
         name

so that their praises might be told in
detail.

⁹ And of others there is no memorial,
and they perished as though they had not
         existed,

and they became as those who had not been
         born,
and their children after them.

¹⁰ These, on the other hand, were men of
         compassion,

whose righteous deeds were not
forgotten.

¹¹ With their seed it will remain;

a good inheritance is their offspring.

¹² In the covenants their seed stood,
and their children for their sake.

¹³ Forever will their seed remain, and their glory will not be blotted out.

¹⁴ Their bodies were buried in peace,
and their name lives for generations.

¹⁵ Peoples will recount their wisdom,
and an assembly will proclaim their
         praise.

¹⁶ Henoch pleased God, and he was changed,
an example of repentance for generations.

¹⁷ Noe was found perfect, righteous;
in a time of anger he became an
         exchange;

because of him, there was a remnant for the
         earth,
when a flood occurred.

¹⁸ Covenants of eternity were added to him
lest all flesh be blotted out by a flood.

¹⁹ Abraam was a great father of a multitude of
         nations,
and no blemish was found on his glory,

²⁰ who kept the law of the Most High,
and he entered in a covenant with him;

in his flesh he established a covenant,
and in a trial he was found faithful.

²¹ Therefore he^a established by means of an
         oath with him

that nations would be blessed by his
seed,

that he would multiply him as the dust of
         the earth
and like the stars to exalt his seed

and to give them an inheritance from sea to
         sea
and from the river to the end of the earth.

²² And with Isaak he likewise established,
on account of Abraam his father.

A blessing for all humankind and a
         covenant

²³      he put down upon the head of Iakob;

he acknowledged him with his blessings,
and he gave to him by an inheritance,

and he divided his portions,
and he allotted among twelve tribes.

And he brought out of him a man of mercy,
who found favor in the eyes of all flesh,

45 who was loved by God and human beings,
Moyses, whose memorial is accompanied
          by blessings.

² He made him equal to the glory of holy
         ones,

and he made him great by terror for
         enemies.

³ By his words he hastened signs;
he^a glorified him in front of kings;

he gave him commands for his people,
and he showed him his glory.

⁴ In faithfulness and meekness he consecrated
         him;
he chose him out of all flesh.

⁵ He caused him to hear his voice,
and he led him into the deep darkness,

and he gave him commandments face-to-face,
a law of life and knowledge,

to teach Iakob a covenant
and Israel his judgments.

⁶ He exalted Aaron, a holy person like him^b,
his brother from the tribe of Leui.

⁷ He ^cestablished him as an everlasting
         covenant^d
and gave him a priesthood of the people;

he pronounced him happy with decorum,
and he girded him with a cloak of glory.

⁸ He clothed him with perfection of boasting,
and he crowned him with the
         implements of strength,

drawers and a full-length robe and
shoulder-strap.

⁹ And he encircled him with pomegranates,
with very many golden bells all around,

to send forth a sound at his steps,
to make an audible sound in the shrine
for a memorial for the sons of his people,

¹⁰ with the sacred vestment, with gold and
         blue
and purple, a work of an embroiderer,

with the oracle of judgment, for
         manifestations of truth,

¹¹      with twisted scarlet, a work of an artisan,

with costly stones of an engraved seal
in a setting of gold, a work of a jeweler,

for a memorial in inscribed writing
according to the number of the tribes of
         Israel,

¹² a crown of gold upon a turban,
a carving of a seal of holiness,

a boast of honor, a work of strength,
objects of desire for the eyes, adorned.

¹³ Before him such beautiful things did not
         exist.

Until eternity, no alien put them on
except his sons alone
and his descendants in perpetuity.

¹⁴ His sacrifices shall be wholly burned,
twice each day continually.

¹⁵ Moyses filled his hands
and anointed him with holy oil;

it became for him an everlasting covenant
and in his seed for the days of the sky,

to minister to him^a and at the same time to
         be a priest
and to bless his people in the name.

¹⁶ He chose him out of everyone alive
to offer a fruit sacrifice to the Lord,

incense and a pleasing odor for a memorial,
to make atonement for the people.

¹⁷ By his commandments he gave him
authority in covenants of judgments,

to teach Iakob the testimonies
and with his law to enlighten Israel.

¹⁸ Strangers conspired against him,
and they envied him in the wilderness,

the men with Dathan and Abiron
and the gathering of Kore in wrath and
         anger.

¹⁹ The Lord saw and was not well pleased,
and they were destroyed by wrath of
         anger;

he performed wonders among them,
to consume them in the fire of his flame.

²⁰ And he added glory to Aaron,
and he gave him an inheritance;

the first fruits of first products he allotted to
         him;

bread with the first things he prepared in
         abundance.

²¹ For also they shall eat sacrifices of the Lord,
which he gave both to him and to his
         seed.

²² But in the land of the people he will have
         no inheritance,

and he has no portion for him among
the people,

for he^a is your portion and inheritance.

²³ And Phinees son of Eleazar is third in
         glory,

since he was zealous in the fear of the
Lord

and since he stood firm in the turning of the
         people,

in the goodness of the eagerness of his
         soul;

he also made atonement for Israel.

²⁴ Therefore there was established with him a
         covenant of peace

to be in charge of holy things and of his
people

so that he and his seed might have
the magnificence of the priesthood
         forever.

²⁵ Also a covenant with Dauid
son of Iessai from the tribe of Iouda,

an inheritance of the king for son from son
         only;

Aaron’s inheritance is also for his seed.

²⁶ May he^a grant to you^b wisdom in your
         heart,
to judge his people in righteousness

so that their good things might not vanish
and their glory be to their generations.

46 Mighty in war was Iesous son of Naue
and a successor of Moyses in prophecies,

who was, like his name,
great for the salvation of his^c elect,
to take vengeance on enemies when
         stirred up,
so that he might give Israel an
         inheritance.

² How he was glorified when he lifted up his
         hands

and when he extended a sword against
cities!

³ Who before him stood so?

For it was he who led the wars of the
         Lord.

⁴ Was it not by his hand that the sun was
         shackled,
and one day became as two?

⁵ He called upon the Most High, mighty one,
when enemies pressed him all around,

and the great Lord heard him
with stones of hail of mighty power.

⁶ He rushed down upon a nation in battle,
and on a slope he destroyed those who
         resisted

so that nations might know his armament,
because their battle was against the Lord,
for indeed he followed after a mighty
         one.

⁷ And in the days of Moyses he did mercy, he
and Chaleb son of Iephonne,

to oppose an assembly,
to restrain people from sin
and to still grumbling of wickedness.

⁸ And these were the two that escaped
out of the six hundred thousand infantry

to lead them^d into an inheritance,
into a land flowing with milk and honey.

⁹ And the Lord gave Chaleb strength,
and until old age it remained with him

so that he went up to the height of the land
and his seed obtained an inheritance

¹⁰ in order that all the sons of Israel might see
that it is good to walk behind the Lord.

¹¹ And the judges, each with his own name,
whose heart did not commit fornication

and who did not turn away from the Lord,
may their memorial be for blessings.

¹² May their bones sprout anew out of their
         plot
and their name be traded;
may it^e be renowne^d famong the sons of
         humankind.

¹³ Having received glory of human beings,
         beloved by his Lord was Samouel^f;

a prophet of the Lord, he established a
kingdom

and anointed rulers over his people.

¹⁴ By the law of the Lord he judged a
         gathering,
and the Lord watched over Iakob.

¹⁵ By his faithfulness he was made accurate as
         a prophet,

and the trustworthiness of his vision was
known in his words.

¹⁶ And he called upon the Lord, a mighty one,
when his enemies pressed all around, with an offering of a suckling lamb.

¹⁷ And the Lord thundered from the sky,
and with a great sound he made his voice
         heard.

¹⁸ And he wiped out leaders of the Tyrians
and all rulers of the Phylistiim.

¹⁹ And before the time of eternal sleep he bore
         witness
before the Lord and his anointed one,

“No property, not even a pair shoes,
have I taken from any flesh.”
And no person accused him.

²⁰ And after he fell asleep, he prophesied,
and he showed the king his end,

and he raised up his voice out of the
         ground

in prophecy to blot out the lawlessness of
the people.

47 And after this one Nathan rose up
to prophecy in the days of Dauid.

² Just as fat set apart from deliverance^a,
so was Dauid from Israel’s sons.

³ He played with lions as with young goats
and with bears as with lambs of the
         flocks.

⁴ In his youth, did he not kill a giant
and take away reproach from the people

by raising his hand with a sling’s stone
and by striking down the arrogance of
         Goliath?

⁵ For he called upon the Lord, the Most
         High,
and he gave strength by his right arm,

to remove a person able in war,
to exalt his people’s horn.

⁶ So among the tens of thousands they
         glorified him,

and they praised him with blessings of
the Lord

by bringing to him a diadem of glory.

⁷ For he wiped out enemies all around,
and he treated with contempt the
         Phylistiim, his adversaries,
and he broke their horn until this day.

⁸ In every deed of his he gave
         acknowledgement

to the Holy One, the Most High, with a
word of glory;

with his whole heart he sang hymns,
and he loved him who made him.

⁹ He established harp-singers before the altar
also to make sweet melodies with their
         ringing sounds,

[and every day they will praise with their
songs.]

¹⁰ He gave dignity at the feasts,
and he arranged seasons until
         completion,
when they were praising his holy name,
and from early morning the holy precinct
         was resounding.

¹¹ The Lord took away his sins,
and he exalted his horn forever,

and he gave him a covenant of kings
and a throne of glory in Israel.

¹² After this one arose a knowledgeable son,
and because of him^b, he lodged in
         spaciousness.

¹³ Salomon reigned in days of peace,
to whom God gave rest all around

so that he might establish a house to his^c
         name
and prepare a holy precinct forever.

¹⁴ How wise were you in your youth,
and you were filled like a river with
         understanding.

¹⁵ Your soul covered the earth,
and you were full with illustrations of
         riddles.

¹⁶ To far-off islands did your name reach,
and you were beloved in your peace.

¹⁷ For songs and proverbs and illustrations

and for explanations countries marveled at
         you.

¹⁸ In the name of the Lord God,
who is called God of Israel,

you gathered gold like tin
and amassed silver like lead.

¹⁹ You bent your flanks for women,
and you were brought into subjection by
         your body.

²⁰ You gave disgrace on your glory,
and you defiled your seed,

to bring wrath upon your children
and to cause bewilderment by your folly

²¹ so that sovereignty became divided,
and a disobedient kingdom originates
         from Ephraim.

²² But the Lord will never abandon his mercy
and never caused any of his words to
         perish,

and he will never blot out the descendants
         of his chosen one,

and he will never take away the seed of
the one who loved him,

and he gave a remnant to Iakob,
and to Dauid a root out of him.

²³ And Salomon rested with his fathers,
and he left behind himself some of his
         seed,

folly of the people and one lacking
         understanding,

Roboam, who caused the people to revolt
because of his plan,

and Ieroboam son of Nabat, who made
         Israel sin,
also gave Ephraim a path of sin.

²⁴ And their sins multiplied greatly
to remove them from their land.

²⁵ And they sought out every wickedness
until vengeance came upon them.

48 And Elias rose up, a prophet like fire,
and his word was burning like a torch,

² who brought a famine upon them
and by his zeal made them few.

³ By a word of the Lord he shut up the sky;
he thus brought down fire three times.

⁴ How you were glorified, Elias, in your
         wondrous deeds!

And who will boast as you can?

⁵ He who raised a corpse from death
and out of Hades by a word of the Most
         High.

⁶ He who brought down kings to destruction
and those who had been glorified from
         their bed.

⁷ He who heard a rebuke at Sina
and at Choreb judgments of vengeance.

⁸ He who anointed kings for the purpose of
         retribution
and prophets as successors after him.

⁹ He who was taken up in a whirlwind of
         fire
and in a chariot of fiery horses.

¹⁰ He who was recorded ready for the times,
to calm anger before wrath,

to turn the heart of a father to a son
and to restore the tribes of Iakob.

¹¹ Happy are those who saw you
and those fallen asleep in loving^a,
for we too shall live by life.

¹² It was Elias who was enveloped in a
         whirlwind,
and Elisaie was filled with his spirit,

and in his days he did not tremble before
         any ruler,
and no one oppressed him.

¹³ No word surpassed him,
and in sleep^b his body prophesied.

¹⁴ In his life he performed wonders,
and in death his deeds were marvelous.

¹⁵ In all these things, the people did not
         repent,

and they did not withdraw from their
sins

until they were carried off from their land
and they were scattered in all the earth.

And the people were left few in number,
and a ruler in the house of Dauid.

¹⁶ Some of them did what was pleasing,
but others multiplied sins.

¹⁷ Hezekias fortified his city,
and he brought water into its midst;

he tunneled a rock with iron,
and he built wells for water.

¹⁸ In his days Sennacherim came up,
and he sent Rapsakes and departed,

and he raised up his hand against Sion
and made great boasts in his arrogance.

¹⁹ Then their hearts and hands were shaken,
and they were in travail like women in
         labor.

²⁰ And they called upon the Lord who is
         merciful,
spreading out their hands to him.

And the Holy One quickly heard them from
         the sky,

and he redeemed them by the hand of
         Esaias.

²¹ He struck down the camp of the Assyrians,
and his holy angel wiped them out.

²² For Hezekias did what was pleasing to the
         Lord,

and he prevailed in the ways of Dauid,
his father,

which Esaias the prophet commanded;
he was great and reliable in his vision.

²³ In his days the sun stepped back,
and he added to life for the king.

²⁴ By his great spirit he showed what would be,
         forever,

and he comforted those who mourned in
Sion.

²⁵ And to eternity he showed the things that
         will be

and the hidden things before they even
happened.

49 Iosias’s memorial becomes a
         compounding of incense,
prepared^c by the work of a perfumer;

like honey in every mouth it will be sweet,
and like music at a banquet of wine.

² He prospered in turning around the
         people,

and he removed abominations of
lawlessness.

³ He directed his heart toward the Lord;
in days of lawless people he strengthened
         piety.

⁴ Except for Dauid and Hezekias and Iosias,
all committed error,

for they abandoned the law of the Most
         High;
the kings of Iouda failed,

⁵ for they gave their horn^d to others
and their glory to a foreign nation.

⁶ They set fire to the chosen city of the holy
         sanctuary
and made desolate its streets
^eby the hand^e of Ieremias.

⁷ For they mistreated him,
and he was hallowed a prophet in the
         womb,

to uproot and to ruin and to destroy,
likewise to build and to plant.

⁸ There was Iezekiel who saw a vision of
         glory

that he^f showed to him upon the chariot
of Cheroubin.

⁹ Indeed he^a remembered his enemies in a
         thunderstorm,

and to do good to those who make
straight their ways.

¹⁰ And may the bones of the twelve prophets
sprout anew out of their place,

for they comforted Iakob
and they redeemed them in confidence of
         hope.

¹¹ How are we to magnify Zorobabel?

He too was like a signet on the right
hand,

¹²      so Iesous son of Iosedek,

who, in their days, built a house
and raised a holy shrine to the Lord,
prepared for everlasting glory.

¹³ And the memorial of Neemias is lasting,
he who raised our walls, which had
         fallen,

and set up gates and bars
and raised up our buildings.

¹⁴ No one was created on the earth such as
         Henoch,
for he too was taken up from the earth.

¹⁵ Nor has there been born a man like Ioseph,
a leader of brothers, a support of the
         people,
and they watched over his bones.

¹⁶ Sem and Seth were glorified among human
         beings,

and above every living thing in creation
was Adam.

50 Simon son of Onias was the great priest,
he who in his life repaired a house
and in his days fortified a shrine.

² And by him the height of the courtyard was
         founded,

a high retaining structure of the temple
enclosure.

³ In his days a cistern for water was quarried,
a reservoir like the circumference of a sea.

⁴ He who gave heed to his people out of
         calamity
and strengthened the city in a siege,

⁵ how he was glorified as he spun around the
         shrine,
as he exited from the house of the veil.

⁶ Like a morning star in the midst of a
         cloud,
like the full moon in the days of a feast,

⁷ like the sun shining on the shrine of the
         Most High,

like the rainbow gleaming in clouds of
glory,

⁸ like a blossom of roses in days of ^bnew
         things^b,
like lilies at exits of water,

like a new shoot of Lebanon in days of
summer,

⁹ like fire and incense in a fire-pan,
like a gold vessel of beaten metal,
adorned with every precious stone,

¹⁰ like an olive tree sprouting forth fruit
and like a cypress towering in the clouds.

¹¹ When he put on a robe of glory
and when he put on himself with the
         perfection of a boast,

in ascending the holy altar,
he glorified the enclosure of the holy
         precinct.

¹² But as he received portions from priests’
         hands
and when he stood by the altar’sc hearth,

all around him was a garland of brothers
like a growth of cedars on Lebanon,
and they surrounded him like trunks of
         palm trees.

¹³ And all Aaron’s sons were in their glory,
and the Lord’s offering was in their hands
before the entire assembly of Israel,

¹⁴ and as he was ministering a conclusion
         upon the altars^c,

to arrange an offering for the Most High,
the Almighty,

¹⁵ he stretched out his hand to a libation bowl
and made a libation of grape blood;

he poured at the foundations of the altar
an odor of fragrance to the Most High,
         the King of All.

¹⁶ Then the sons of Aaron cheered;
they sounded on trumpets of beaten
         metal;

they made heard a great sound
as a memorial before the Most High.

¹⁷ Then all the people hurried with one
         accord,
and they fell face down on the ground,

to do obeisance to their Lord,
the Almighty, God Most High.

¹⁸ And the harp-singers sang praises with their
         voices;

a melody was made sweet with a full
tone.

¹⁹ And the people ^dpetitioned the Lord Most
         High^d
with prayer before the Merciful One
until the Lord’s arrangement was
         completed
and they finished his ministrations.

²⁰ Then as he descended, he raised up his
         hands
over the entire assembly of Israel’s sons,

to give a blessing of the Lord from his lips
and to boast in his name.

²¹ And they repeated an act of obeisance,
to receive the blessing from the Most
         High.

²² And now bless the God of all things,
him who does great things everywhere,

him who exalts our days from the womb
and does with us according to his mercy.

²³ May he give us gladness of heart,
that there also be peace in our days
in Israel according to the days of the age.

²⁴ May he entrust with us his mercy,
and in our days let him redeem us.

²⁵ My soul was offended at two nations,
and the third is not a nation:

²⁶ those who settled on Mount Samaria and
         Phylistiim

and the foolish people who live in
Sikima.

²⁷ Instruction of understanding and knowledge
I have inscribed in this book,

Iesous son of Sirach, Eleazar the
         Hierosolymite,
who poured forth wisdom from his heart.

²⁸ Happy is he who is engaged in these things,
and when he has placed them on his
         heart, he will be wise.

²⁹ For if he does them, he will have strength
         for anything,
because his route is the fear of the Lord,

[and to the pious he gave wisdom.]

[Blessed be the Lord forever. May it be; may it
         be.]

A PRAYER OF IESOUS SON OF SIRACH

51 I will acknowledge you, O Lord and King,
and I will praise you as God my Savior.

I acknowledge your name,

²      because you have been my protector and
         helper,

and you have redeemed my body from
         destruction
and from a trap of a slanderous tongue,
from lips that fabricate a lie,

and against those who stand by

³      you have been a help, and you have
         redeemed me,

according to an abundance of mercy and
your name,

from nooses prepared for food,

from the hand of persons seeking my
         soul,

from rather many troubles, which I had,

⁴ from a choking of a pyre all around
and from the midst of fire, which I did
         not kindle,

⁵ from the deep of Hades’ belly
and from an unclean tongue and a lying
         word

⁶ and a missile of a tongue of an unrighteous
         person.

My soul drew near to death,
and my life was on the brink of Hades
         below.

⁷ They surrounded me on every side,
and there was no one who helped;

I looked for assistance from human beings,
and there was none.

⁸ And I remembered your mercy, O Lord,
and your beneficence from of old,

because you raise up those who wait for you
and you save them from the hand of
         wicked persons.

⁹ And I raised up my supplication from the
         earth,

and I begged for deliverance from
death.

¹⁰ I called upon the Lord, Father of my lord,
not to forsake me in days of affliction,
in a time of helplessness from acts of
         arrogance.

¹¹ “I will praise your name continually,
and I will sing hymns with
         acknowledgement.”

And my petition was heard,

¹²     for you saved me from destruction

and delivered me from an evil time.

For this reason I will acknowledge and
         praise you,
and I will bless the name of the Lord.

¹³ When I was still young, before I wandered,
I sought wisdom plainly in my prayer.

¹⁴ Before the shrine I asked for her,
and until the final things I will seek her.

¹⁵ When the grape was putting out flowers to
         the point of ripening,
my heart was glad in her;

my foot stepped in rectitude;
from my youth I would track her.

¹⁶ I inclined my ear a little, and I received,
and I found for myself much
         instruction.

¹⁷ I made progress in her;
to him who gives me wisdom I will give
         glory.

¹⁸ For I intended to practice her,
and I sought the good, and I will never
         be ashamed.

¹⁹ My soul has grappled with her,
and in the performance of the law I was
         exacting.

I spread out my hands on high,
and I thought about ignorance of her.

²⁰ I directed my soul to her,
and in purification I found her.

I acquired a heart with her from the
         beginning.

For this reason I will never be forsaken,

²¹ and my belly was stirred to seek her out;
for this reason I gained a good
         possession.

²² The Lord gave a tongue to me as my wage,
and with it I will praise him.

²³ Draw near to me, you who are
         uneducated,
and lodge in a house of instruction.

²⁴ Why are you still lacking in these things,
and your souls thirst greatly?

²⁵ I opened my mouth, and I said,
“Acquire for yourselves without money.

²⁶ Place your neck under a yoke,
and let your soul receive instruction.
It is near to find it.”

²⁷ See with your eyes that I labored little,
and I found for myself much rest.

²⁸ Partake of instruction with a great sum of
         silver,
and you will acquire much gold by it.

²⁹ May your soul be glad in his mercy,
and may you never be ashamed in his
         praise.

³⁰ Accomplish your work in good time,
and he will give your wage in his time.