Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 41

¹ O death, how bitter it is to remember you for a man at peace among his goods, to a man without worries, who prospers in everything, and still has the strength to feed himself.

² O death, your sentence is welcome to a man in want, whose strength is failing, to a man worn out with age, worried about everything, disaffected and beyond endurance.

³ Do not dread death’s sentence; remember those who came before you and those who will come after.

⁴ This is the sentence passed on all living creatures by the Lord, so why object to what seems good to the Most High? Whether your life lasts ten or a hundred or a thousand years, its length will not be held against you in Sheol.

⁵ Hateful brats, such are the children of sinners, who forgather in the haunts of the godless.

⁶ The inheritance of sinners’ children is doomed to perish, their posterity will endure lasting reproach.

⁷ A godless father will be blamed by his children for the reproach he has brought on them.

⁸ A bad outlook for you, godless men, who have forsaken the Law of God Most High.

⁹ When you were born, you were born to be accursed, and when you die, that curse will be your portion.

¹⁰ All that comes from the earth returns to the earth, so too the wicked proceed from curse to destruction.

¹¹ Men go into mourning for their dead, but the worthless name of sinners will be blotted out.

¹² Be careful of your reputation, for it will last you longer than a thousand great hoards of gold.

¹³ A good life lasts a certain number of days, but a good reputation lasts for ever.

¹⁴ Keep my instructions and be at peace, my children. Wisdom hidden away and treasure undisplayed, what use are either of these?

¹⁵ Better a man who hides his folly than one who hides his wisdom.

¹⁶ Now, keep your sense of shame with respect to what I am going to say, for not every kind of shame is right to harbour, nor is every situation correctly appraised by all.

¹⁷ Be ashamed, before father and mother, of licentious behaviour, and before prince or potentate of telling lies;

¹⁸ of wrong-doing before judge or magistrate, and of impiety before the assembly of the people;

¹⁹ of sharp practice before your companion and your friend, and of theft before the neighbourhood you live in.

²⁰ Before the truth and covenant of God, be ashamed of leaning elbows on the table,

²¹ of making gifts before those who despise them, and of ignoring those who greet you:

²² of gazing at a loose woman and of turning your back on a relation,

²³ of misappropriating another’s portion or gift, of paying court to another man’s wife,

²⁴ of carrying on with his servant-girl do not go near her bed-

²⁵ of words of abuse before your friends-do not follow up a gift with a taunt-

²⁶ of repeating and retailing gossip and of betraying confidences.

²⁷ Then you will know what true shame is, and you will find yourself in every man’s graces.