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Sirach 3

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1 2 ἐμοῦ τοῦ πατρὸς ἀκούσατε τέκνα καὶ οὕτως ποιήσατε ἵνα σωθῆτε 3 ὁ γὰρ κύριος ἐδόξασεν πατέρα ἐπὶ τέκνοις καὶ κρίσιν μητρὸς ἐστερέωσεν ἐ{F'} υἱοῖς 4 ὁ τιμῶν πατέρα ἐξιλάσκεται ἁμαρτίας 5 καὶ ὡς ὁ ἀποθησαυρίζων ὁ δοξάζων μητέρα αὐτοῦ 6 ὁ τιμῶν πατέρα εὐφρανθήσεται ὑπὸ τέκνων καὶ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ προσευχῆς αὐτοῦ εἰσακουσθήσεται 7 ὁ δοξάζων πατέρα μακροημερεύσει καὶ ὁ εἰσακούων κυρίου ἀναπαύσει μητέρα αὐτοῦ 8 καὶ ὡς δεσπόταις δουλεύσει ἐν τοῖς γεννήσασιν αὐτόν 9 ἐν ἔργῳ καὶ λόγῳ τίμα τὸν πατέρα σου 10 ἵνα ἐπέλθῃ σοι εὐλογία πα{R'} αὐτοῦ 11 εὐλογία γὰρ πατρὸς στηρίζει οἴκους τέκνων κατάρα δὲ μητρὸς ἐκριζοῖ θεμέλια 12 μὴ δοξάζου ἐν ἀτιμίᾳ πατρός σου οὐ γάρ ἐστίν σοι δόξα πατρὸς ἀτιμία 13 ἡ γὰρ δόξα ἀνθρώπου ἐκ τιμῆς πατρὸς αὐτοῦ καὶ ὄνειδος τέκνοις μήτηρ ἐν ἀδοξίᾳ 14 τέκνον ἀντιλαβοῦ ἐν γήρᾳ πατρός σου καὶ μὴ λυπήσῃς αὐτὸν ἐν τῇ ζωῇ αὐτοῦ 15 κἂν ἀπολείπῃ σύνεσιν συγγνώμην ἔχε καὶ μὴ ἀτιμάσῃς αὐτὸν ἐν πάσῃ ἰσχύι σου 16 ἐλεημοσύνη γὰρ πατρὸς οὐκ ἐπιλησθήσεται καὶ ἀντὶ ἁμαρτιῶν προσανοικοδομηθήσεταί σοι 17 ἐν ἡμέρᾳ θλίψεώς σου ἀναμνησθήσεταί σου ὡς εὐδία ἐπὶ παγετῷ οὕτως ἀναλυθήσονταί σου αἱ ἁμαρτίαι 18 ὡς βλάσφημος ὁ ἐγκαταλιπὼν πατέρα καὶ κεκατηραμένος ὑπὸ κυρίου ὁ παροργίζων μητέρα αὐτοῦ

1 Wherever choice souls are found, wisdom is the mother of them; all submissiveness and love their breed is. 2 Speak we now of a father’s rights; do you, sons, give good heed, and follow these counsels, if thrive you would. 3 God will have children honour their fathers; a mother’s rights are his own strict ordinance. 4 A lover of God will fall to prayer over his sins and sin no more; so, all his life long, his prayer shall find audience. 5 … riches he lays up for himself, that gives his mother her due.[1] 6 As thou wouldst have joy of thy own children, as thou wouldst be heard when thou fallest to praying, honour thy father still. 7 A father honoured is long life won; a father well obeyed is a mother’s heart comforted. 8 None that fears the Lord but honours the parents who gave him life, slave to master owes no greater service. 9 Thy father honour, in deed and in word and in all manner of forbearance; 10 so thou shalt have his blessing, a blessing that will endure to thy life’s end. 11 What is the buttress of a man’s house? A father’s blessing. What tears up the foundations of it? A mother’s curse. 12 Never make a boast of thy father’s ill name; what, should his discredit be thy renown? 13 Nay, for a father’s good repute or ill, a son must go proudly, or hang his head. 14 My son, when thy father grows old, take him to thyself; long as he lives, never be thou the cause of his repining. 15 Grow he feeble of wit, make allowance for him, nor in thy manhood’s vigour despise him. The kindness shewn to thy father will not go forgotten; 16 favour it shall bring thee in acquittal of thy mother’s guilt.[2] 17 Faithfully it shall be made good to thee, nor shalt thou be forgotten when the time of affliction comes; like ice in summer the record of thy sins shall melt away. 18 Tarnished his name, that leaves his father forsaken; God’s curse rest on him, that earns a mother’s ill-will.

1

Filii sapientiæ ecclesia justorum,
et natio illorum obedientia et dilectio. 2
Judicium patris audite, filii,
et sic facite, ut salvi sitis. 3
Deus enim honoravit patrem in filiis:
et judicium matris exquirens, firmavit in filios. 4
Qui diligit Deum exorabit pro peccatis,
et continebit se ab illis,
et in oratione dierum exaudietur. 5
Et sicut qui thesaurizat,
ita et qui honorificat matrem suam. 6
Qui honorat patrem suum jucundabitur in filiis,
et in die orationis suæ exaudietur. 7
Qui honorat patrem suum vita vivet longiore,
et qui obedit patri refrigerabit matrem. 8
Qui timet Dominum honorat parentes,
et quasi dominis serviet his qui se genuerunt. 9
In opere, et sermone, et omni patientia, honora patrem tuum, 10
ut superveniat tibi benedictio ab eo,
et benedictio illius in novissimo maneat. 11
Benedictio patris firmat domos filiorum:
maledictio autem matris eradicat fundamenta. 12
Ne glorieris in contumelia patris tui:
non enim est tibi gloria ejus confusio. 13
Gloria enim hominis ex honore patris sui,
et dedecus filii pater sine honore. 14
Fili, suscipe senectam patris tui,
et non contristes eum in vita illius: 15
et si defecerit sensu, veniam da,
et ne spernas eum in virtute tua:
eleemosyna enim patris non erit in oblivione. 16
Nam pro peccato matris restituetur tibi bonum: 17
et in justitia ædificabitur tibi,
et in die tribulationis commemorabitur tui,
et sicut in sereno glacies, solventur peccata tua. 18
Quam malæ famæ est qui derelinquit patrem,
et est maledictus a Deo qui exasperat matrem!

19 τέκνον ἐν πραΰτητι τὰ ἔργα σου διέξαγε καὶ ὑπὸ ἀνθρώπου δεκτοῦ ἀγαπηθήσῃ 20 ὅσῳ μέγας εἶ τοσούτῳ ταπείνου σεαυτόν καὶ ἔναντι κυρίου εὑρήσεις χάριν 21 ὅτι μεγάλη ἡ δυναστεία τοῦ κυρίου καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν ταπεινῶν δοξάζεται 22 χαλεπώτερά σου μὴ ζήτει καὶ ἰσχυρότερά σου μὴ ἐξέταζε 23 ἃ προσετάγη σοι ταῦτα διανοοῦ οὐ γάρ ἐστίν σοι χρεία τῶν κρυπτῶν 24 ἐν τοῖς περισσοῖς τῶν ἔργων σου μὴ περιεργάζου 25 πλείονα γὰρ συνέσεως ἀνθρώπων ὑπεδείχθη σοι 26 πολλοὺς γὰρ ἐπλάνησεν ἡ ὑπόλημψις αὐτῶν καὶ ὑπόνοια πονηρὰ ὠλίσθησεν διανοίας αὐτῶν

19 My son, do all thou dost in lowly fashion; love thou shalt win, that is worth more than men’s praise. 20 The greater thou art, the more in all things abase thyself; so thou shalt win favour with God …[3] 21 Sovereignty belongs to God and no other; they honour him most that most keep humility. 22 Seek not to know what is far above thee; search not beyond thy range; let thy mind ever dwell on the duty God has given thee to do, content to be ignorant of all his dealings besides. 23 Need is none thy eyes should see what things lie hidden. 24 Leave off, then, thy much questioning about such things as little concern thee, and be content with thy ignorance; 25 more is granted to thy view than lies within human ken. 26 By such fancies, many have been led astray, and their thoughts chained to folly.[4]

19

Fili, in mansuetudine opera tua perfice,
et super hominum gloriam diligeris. 20
Quanto magnus es, humilia te in omnibus,
et coram Deo invenies gratiam: 21
quoniam magna potentia Dei solius,
et ab humilibus honoratur. 22
Altiora te ne quæsieris,
et fortiora te ne scrutatus fueris:
sed quæ præcepit tibi Deus, illa cogita semper,
et in pluribus operibus ejus ne fueris curiosus. 23
Non est enim tibi necessarium
ea, quæ abscondita sunt, videre oculis tuis. 24
In supervacuis rebus noli scrutari multipliciter,
et in pluribus operibus ejus non eris curiosus. 25
Plurima enim super sensum hominum ostensa sunt tibi: 26
multos quoque supplantavit suspicio illorum,
et in vanitate detinuit sensus illorum.

27 καρδία σκληρὰ κακωθήσεται ἐ{P'} ἐσχάτων καὶ ὁ ἀγαπῶν κίνδυνον ἐν αὐτῷ ἀπολεῖται 28 29 καρδία σκληρὰ βαρυνθήσεται πόνοις καὶ ὁ ἁμαρτωλὸς προσθήσει ἁμαρτίαν ἐ{F'} ἁμαρτίαις 30 ἐπαγωγῇ ὑπερηφάνου οὐκ ἔστιν ἴασις φυτὸν γὰρ πονηρίας ἐρρίζωκεν ἐν αὐτῷ 31 καρδία συνετοῦ διανοηθήσεται παραβολήν καὶ οὖς ἀκροατοῦ ἐπιθυμία σοφοῦ 32

27 … Heart that is obstinate shall thrive ill at the last; danger loved is death won. 28 Heart that will try two ways at once shall prosper little; he falls into the snare that goes a-straying. 29 Heart that will not mend shall be weighed down by its own troubles; the sinner is ever ready for one sin more. 30 For one sort of men there is no remedy, the proud; too deep a root the evil has taken, before they knew it. 31 Heart that is wise will prove itself in wise company; ever greedy of wise talk is the ear that knows how to listen. 32 Heart that is wise and discerning will keep clear of wrong, and by honest dealings prosper yet.

27
Cor durum habebit male in novissimo,
et qui amat periculum in illo peribit. 28
Cor ingrediens duas vias non habebit successus,
et pravus corde in illis scandalizabitur. 29
Cor nequam gravabitur in doloribus,
et peccator adjiciet ad peccandum. 30
Synagogæ superborum non erit sanitas,
frutex enim peccati radicabitur in illis, et non intelligetur. 31
Cor sapientis intelligitur in sapientia,
et auris bona audiet cum omni concupiscentia sapientiam. 32
Sapiens cor et intelligibile abstinebit se a peccatis,
et in operibus justitiæ successus habebit.

33 πῦρ φλογιζόμενον ἀποσβέσει ὕδωρ καὶ ἐλεημοσύνη ἐξιλάσεται ἁμαρτίας 34 ὁ ἀνταποδιδοὺς χάριτας μέμνηται εἰς τὰ μετὰ ταῦτα καὶ ἐν καιρῷ πτώσεως αὐτοῦ εὑρήσει στήριγμα

33 No fire burns so high but water may quench it; almsgiving was ever sin’s atoning. 34 God marks the grateful eye, and remembers it; here is sure support won against peril of falling.

33

Ignem ardentem exstinguit aqua,
et eleemosyna resistit peccatis: 34
et Deus prospector est ejus qui reddit gratiam:
meminit ejus in posterum,
et in tempore casus sui inveniet firmamentum.

[1] vv. 4, 5: The Latin version here inserts a sentence which seems out of place (perhaps belonging to the end of the foregoing chapter); it omits the words given in the Greek text: ‘He who honours his father will atone for his own sins’.

[2] In the Greek text, the giver of alms atones not for his mother’s sin, but for his own. Cf. however Ps. 50.7.

[3] Some manuscripts and versions add, at the end of this verse, ‘Men’s esteem and honour is to be had for the asking, but it is to the humble that hidden things are revealed’.

[4] Some manuscripts and versions add, at the end of this verse, ‘Want eyes, want light; boast not that thou hast knowledge, where knowledge is none’.

Knox Translation Copyright © 2013 Westminster Diocese
Nihil Obstat. Father Anton Cowan, Censor.
Imprimatur. +Most Rev. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster. 8th January 2012.
Re-typeset and published in 2012 by Baronius Press Ltd