Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 14

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¹Blessed is the man, that stood not by the words of his mouth, and was not pricked in the sorrow of trespass.

²He is blessed, that hath not sorrow of his soul, and falleth not down or away from his hope.

³Chattel, that is, riches, is without reason to a covetous man, and hard niggard; and whereto is gold to an envious man?

⁴He that gathereth of his will unjustly, gathereth to other men; and another man shall make waste or do lechery in his goods.

⁵To what other man shall he be good, which is wicked to himself? or Who to himself is shrewd, to what other shall he be good? and he shall not be merry in his goods.

⁶Nothing is worse, than he that hath envy or that envieth to himself; and this is the yielding of his malice.

⁷And if he doeth good, he doeth unwittingly, and not willfully; and at the last he showeth his malice.

⁸The eye of an envious man is wicked, and turning away the face, and despising his soul.

⁹The eye of the covetous man is never filled or unfillable; he shall not be filled into the part of wicked-ness, till he perform unrightfulness or unrightwiseness, and make dry his soul.

¹⁰An evil eye to evils, and the needy man shall not be filled of or with bread; and he shall be in sorrow on his table.

¹¹Son, if thou hast, do well with thyself, and offer thou worthy offer-ings to God.

¹²Be thou mindful that death shall not tarry, and the testament of hells or of hell, that is, the ordinance of God, of the death of each man, which is showed to thee; for why the testament of this world shall die by death.

¹³Before death do thou good or well to thy friend, and by thy mights or strengths stretch thou forth, and give to a poor man.

¹⁴Be thou not deceived or be-guiled of a good day, and a little part of a good day pass not thee.

¹⁵Whether thou shalt not leave to other men thy sorrows, and travails?

¹⁶In the parting of lot give thou, and take, and justify thy soul.

¹⁷Before thy death work thou right-fulness or rightwiseness; for at hells or hell, it is not to find meat.

¹⁸Each man shall wax eld or old as hay, and as a leaf bringing fruit in a green tree. Others be engendered, and others be cast or fall down; so the generation of flesh and blood, another is ended, and another is born.

¹⁹Each corruptible work shall fail in the end; and he that worketh it, shall go with it. And all or each chosen work shall be justified; and he that worketh it, shall be honoured in it.

²⁰Blessed is the man, that shall dwell in wisdom, and that shall bethink in rightfulness or rightwise-ness, and shall think in wit the beholding or the looking about of God.

²¹Which or Who thinketh out, either findeth out, the ways of him in his heart, and shall be understanding in the hid things of him;

²²going as a searcher after it, and standing in the ways of it.

²³Which or Who beholdeth by the windows thereof, and heareth in the gates thereof;

²⁴which or who resteth nigh the house thereof, and setteth a stake or a pale in the walls thereof.

²⁵He shall set his little house at the hands of him, and goods shall rest in his little house, by enduring of the world;

²⁶he shall set his sons under the covering thereof, and he shall dwell under the boughs or branches thereof;

²⁷he shall be covered under the covering thereof from heat, and he shall rest in the glory thereof.