Ecclesiasticus, 16

1. Do not long for a brood of worthless children, and do not take pleasure in godless sons.

1. The man who fears the Lord will do this, and he who holds to the law will obtain wisdom.

2. However many you have, take no pleasure in them, unless the fear of the Lord lives among them.

2. She will come to meet him like a mother, and like the wife of his youth she will welcome him.

3. Do not count on their having long life, do not put too much faith in their number; for better have one than a thousand, better die childless than have children who are godless.

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

4. One person of sense can populate a city, but a race of lawless people will be destroyed.

4. He will lean on her and will not fall, and he will rely on her and will not be put to shame.

5. My eyes have seen many such things, my ears have heard things even more impressive.

5. She will exalt him above his neighbors, and will open his mouth in the midst of the assembly.

6. Fire is kindled in a sinful society, Retribution blazes in a rebellious nation.

6. He will find gladness and a crown of rejoicing, and will acquire an everlasting name.

7. God did not pardon the giants of old who, confident in their strength, had rebelled.

7. Foolish men will not obtain her, and sinful men will not see her.

8. He did not spare the people with whom Lot lived; he abhorred them, rather, for their pride.

8. She is far from men of pride, and liars will never think of her.

9. He was pitiless to the nation of perdition -- those people who gloried in their sins-

9. A hymn of praise is not fitting on the lips of a sinner, for it has not been sent from the Lord.

10. as also to the six hundred thousand men on the march, who had banded together in their obstinacy.

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

11. And had there been only one man stubborn, it would have been amazing had he escaped unpunished, since mercy and wrath alike belong to the Lord who is mighty to forgive and to pour out wrath.

11. Do not say, "Because of the Lord I left the right way"; for he will not do what he hates.

12. As great as his mercy, so is his severity; he judges each person as his deeds deserve:

12. Do not say, "It was he who led me astray"; for he had no need of a sinful man.

13. the sinner will not escape with his ill-gotten gains nor the patience of the devout go for nothing.

13. The Lord hates all abominations, and they are not loved by those who fear him.

14. He takes note of every charitable action, and everyone is treated as he deserves.

14. It was he who created man in the beginning, and he left him in the power of his own inclination.

15.

15. If you will, you can keep the commandments, and to act faithfully is a matter of your own choice.

16.

16. He has placed before you fire and water: stretch out your hand for whichever you wish.

17. Do not say, 'I shall hide from the Lord; who is going to remember me up there? I shall not be noticed among so many people; what am I in the immensity of creation?'

17. Before a man are life and death, and whichever he chooses will be given to him.

18. For see, the sky and the heavens above the sky, the abyss and the earth shake at his visitation.

18. For great is the wisdom of the Lord; he is mighty in power and sees everything;

19. The mountains and earth's foundations alike quail and tremble when he looks at them.

19. his eyes are on those who fear him, and he knows every deed of man.

20. But to all this no one gives thought. Who keeps his movements in mind?

20. He has not commanded any one to be ungodly, and he has not given any one permission to sin.

21. The storm wind itself is invisible, and most of what he does goes undetected.

21.

22. 'Who will report whether justice has been done? Who will be watching? The covenant is remote!'

22.

23. Such are the thoughts of the person of little sense, stupid, misguided, cherishing his folly.

23.

24. Listen to me, my child, and learn knowledge, and give your whole mind to my words.

24.

25. I shall expound discipline methodically and proclaim knowledge with precision.

25.

26. When God created his works in the beginning, he assigned them their places as soon as they were made.

26.

27. He determined his works for all time, from their origins to their distant generations. They know neither hunger nor weariness, and they never desert their duties.

27.

28. Not one has ever got in the way of another, and they will never disobey his word.

28.

29. And afterwards the Lord looked at the earth, and filled it with his good things.

29.

30. He covered its surface with every kind of animal, and to it they will return.

30.