Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 16
God's Punishment of Sinners
1A large family is nothing to be desired if the children are worthless. Godless children are nothing to be proud of. 2No matter how many children you have, don't look on them with pride unless they fear the Lord. 3Don't put much hope in their future or expect them to live a long time. One child who does the Lord's will is better than a thousand who do not. It is better to go to your grave with no children at all than to have children who are godless.
4A city's population may grow because of the wisdom of one person, while a whole tribe of lawless people disappears. 5I have seen such things many times and have heard of even more striking examples. 6The Lord's flaming anger will break out against a small gathering of sinners or a disobedient nation. 7He did not forgive those ancient giants who rebelled against him, confident of their own strength. 8He detested the arrogance of the people among whom Lot lived, and he did not spare them. 9He showed no mercy on that nation which he doomed to destruction for its sins, 10nor on those 600,000 people on the march through the wilderness who gathered together in stubborn rebellion. 11Even if there had been only one stubborn person, it would have been a miracle if he had escaped punishment. The Lord is merciful, but he can also become angry. He can be overwhelming in his forgiveness or in his anger. 12His punishment is as severe as his mercy is great. He judges people by what they have done. 13No sinner can escape with what he has stolen. The Lord will reward the patience of devout people. 14Every righteous person will be rewarded; everyone will get what he deserves.
17Never say, “I will hide from the Lord. Nobody up there is going to give me a thought. How can I be noticed among so many people? The creation is so enormous, what am I worth? 18When the Lord comes, everything will tremble: the earth and the great waters beneath it, the sky and the heavens above it. 19The mountains will shake, and the foundations of the earth will shudder when he looks at them. 20The Lord isn't going to give me a thought. Nobody cares what I do. 21If I sin and am secretly disloyal, nobody will know it. 22If I do what is right, nobody will tell the Lord about it. Who wants to wait for him, anyway? He is too slow in doing what he has said he would.” 23Only someone with very little sense, and foolishly misguided, would think things like that.
God's Wisdom in Creation
24My child, listen and pay attention to me; you will gain knowledge if you do. 25I will give you diligent and accurate instruction.
26In the beginning the Lord did his work of creation,
and he gave everything a place of its own.
27He arranged everything in an eternal order
and decreed that it should be that way for ever.
Not one part of creation ever grows hungry;
no part grows tired or stops its work.
28The parts do not crowd one another,
and they never disobey his word.
29When the Lord had made all this,
he looked at the earth and filled it with good things.
30He covered it with all kinds of creatures
that must die and return to the dust.
Good News Translation® with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Anglicisation © The British and Foreign Bible Society 1976, 1994, 2004
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