Sirach

¹The hopes of a senseless man are empty and false; and dreams extol the imprudent. ↗

²Like one who chases a shadow and pursues the wind, so also is one who pays attention to lying visions. ↗

³In the vision of dreams, one thing represents another, as when a mask is before the face of a man. ↗

⁴What can be cleansed by the unclean? And what truth can be spoken from a lie? ↗

⁵Erroneous divinations and false signs and the dreams of evildoers are emptiness. ↗

⁶For your heart suffers from imagination, like a woman suffering in childbirth. Unless it is a visitation sent from the Most High, you should not set your heart upon it. ↗

⁷For dreams have caused many to go astray, and those who have hoped in them have fallen away. ↗

⁸The word of the law will be fulfilled without a lie, and wisdom will be made plain in the mouths of the faithful. ↗

⁹He who has not been tested, what does he know? A man with much experience will consider many things. And whoever has learned much will explain with understanding. ↗

¹⁰He who has no experience knows little. And he who has done many things has made many mistakes. ↗

¹¹He who has not been tested, what kind of things can he know? He who has been deceived will be more cunning. ↗

¹²I have seen much by wandering, and the customs of many things. ↗

¹³At times, I have even been in danger of death because of these things, but I was freed by the grace of God. ↗

¹⁴The spirit of those who fear God is sought, and they will be blessed by his providence. ↗

¹⁵For their hope is in him who saves them, and the eyes of God are on those who love him. ↗

¹⁶Those who fear the Lord will tremble at nothing, and they will not be terrified. For he is their hope. ↗

¹⁷The soul of him who fears the Lord is blessed. ↗

¹⁸To whom should he look, and who is his strength? ↗

¹⁹The eyes of the Lord are upon those who fear him. He is a powerful Protector, a Firmament of virtue, a Shelter from the heat, and a Covering from the midday sun, ↗

²⁰a Guardian from offenses, and a Helper from falling, who exalts the soul and illuminates the eyes, and who gives health and life and blessing. ↗

²¹An immolation from iniquity is a stained oblation, and the derisions of the unjust are not well pleasing. ↗

²²The Lord is only for those who persevere for him in the way of truth and justice. ↗

²³The Most High does not approve of the gifts of the iniquitous. Neither does he have respect for the oblations of the unjust; neither will he forgive their sins because of the multitude of their sacrifices. ↗

²⁴Whoever offers a sacrifice from the substance of the poor is like one who sacrifices the son in the sight of his father. ↗

²⁵The bread of the indigent is the life of the poor. Whoever cheats them out of it is a man of blood. ↗

²⁶Whoever takes away the bread of sweat is like one who kills his neighbor. ↗

²⁷He who sheds blood, and he who cheats the hired hand out of his wages, are brothers. ↗

²⁸When one builds and another destroys, what benefit do they have from their labor? ↗

²⁹When one prays and another curses, whose voice will God heed? ↗

³⁰He who washes himself after touching the dead, and then touches him again, what was the benefit of his washing? ↗

³¹Similarly, a man who fasts for his sins, and then does the same again, what was the benefit of his humbling himself? Who will heed his prayer? ↗