Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 34

¹ Vain and deceptive hopes are for the foolish, and dreams put fools in a flutter.

² As well clutch at shadows and chase the wind as put any faith in dreams.

³ Mirror and dream are similar things: confronting a face, the reflection of that face.

⁴ What can be cleansed by uncleanness, what can be verified by falsehood?

⁵ Divinations, auguries and dreams are nonsense, like the delirious fancies of a pregnant woman.

⁶ Unless sent as emissaries from the Most High, do not give them a thought;

⁷ for dreams have led many astray, and those building their hopes on them have been disappointed.

⁸ Fulfilling the Law requires no such falsehood, and wisdom is most perfectly expressed by truthful lips.

⁹ A much travelled man knows many things, and a man of great experience will talk sound sense.

¹⁰ Someone who has never had his trials knows little; but the travelled man is master of every situation.

¹¹ I have seen many things on my travels, I have understood more than I can put into words.

¹² I have often been in danger of death, but I have been spared, and this is why:

¹³ the spirit of those who fear the Lord can survive, for their hope is in someone with power to save them.

¹⁴ The man who fears the Lord will not be faint-hearted, will not be daunted since the Lord is his hope.

¹⁵ Happy the soul of the man who fears the Lord. On whom does he rely? Who supports him?

¹⁶ The eyes of the Lord watch over those who love him, he is their powerful protection and their strong support, their screen from the desert wind, their shelter from the midday sun, a guard against stumbling, an assurance against a fall.

¹⁷ He revives the spirit and brightens the eyes, he gives healing, life and blessing.

¹⁸ The sacrifice of an offering unjustly acquired is a mockery; the gifts of impious men are unacceptable.

¹⁹ The Most High takes no pleasure in offerings from the godless, multiplying sacrifices will not gain his pardon for sin.

²⁰ Offering sacrifice from the property of the poor is as bad as slaughtering a son before his father’s very eyes.

²¹ A meagre diet is the very life of the poor, he who withholds it is a man of blood.

²² A man murders his neighbour if he robs him of his livelihood, sheds blood if he withholds an employee’s wages.

²³ If one man builds while another pulls down, what else do they gain but trouble?

²⁴ If one man prays and another calls down a curse, whose voice will the master listen to?

²⁵ If a man washes after touching a corpse, and then touches it again, what is the good of his washing?

²⁶ Just so with a man who fasts for his sins, and then goes off and commits them again. Who will listen to his prayers? What is the good of his self-abasement?