No happiness for the wicked
1 Do not long for a brood of worthless children, and take no joy in godless
sons.
2 However many you have, do not rejoice in them if they have no fear of God.
3 Do not depend on their having a long life, or trust in their number,
because one is better than a thousand and their death is preferable to their
being godless.
4 A city can arise from one man who is prudent. Yet, even though the wicked
become a great tribe, they will be de stroyed.
5 I have seen such things with my own eyes and my ears have heard of still
greater things.
6 Fire has come upon the meeting of sinners and God¡¯s wrath is kindled
against rebellious people.
7 God did not pardon the leaders of old who rebelled in their pride of
strength.
8 He did not spare the city where Lot lived; he detested their pride.
9 He showed no pity on the people doomed to destruction; they were
annihilated for their sins.
10 In the same way, he dealt with the six hun dred thousand men who, in the
hardness of their hearts, had revolted.
11 Had there been only one stubborn man it would have been amazing if he had
escaped unpunished, since mercy and anger belong to the Lord who is powerful
both in forgiveness and in punishment.
12 His justice is as great as his mercy and he judges people by their deeds.
13 Just as the sinner will not escape with his booty, the patience of the
upright man will not go unrewarded.
14 God will reward every act of mercy; each person will be treated according
to his deeds.
17 Do not say, ¡°I will hide from the Lord; who will remember me up there? I
will not be recognized in the midst of so many. What am I in the immensity
of creation?¡±
18 Look: the sky and the heavens above the sky, the sea and the earth
tremble when he comes.
19 The mountains, together with the foundations of the earth, are filled
with dread before his sight.
20 But nobody thinks of such things: who is interested in the ways of God?
21 Most of his works go unnoticed and man does not see where the storm
originates.
22 ¡°Who tells us of the interventions of God? Who expects them? The Covenant
is far away.¡±
23 Such are the thoughts of the man of little sense, the foolish, dissolute
man who loves his illusions.
24 Listen to me, my sons; acquire knowledge and apply your heart to my
words.
25 I will ex pound the teaching step by step and impart knowledge carefully.
God the Creator
26 God created his works from the beginning and, as he made them, he
assigned to each its place.
27 He arranged them for all time, their beginning and their unfolding. They
do not hunger or grow weary and they never cease from their duties.
28 Not one has collided with its neighbor; they will never disobey his
commands.
29 Afterwards, the Lord looked down on the earth and filled it with his
riches.
30 He covered its surface with all kinds of living things which must return
to it.
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Comments Sirach, Chapter 16
• 16.26 Here we have an optimistic vision of humankind. God gave them power
over all things on earth. This is why they must not give themselves to evil.
He put his own eye in their hearts (17:8): this means conscience and
intuitions of the spirit (see Pro 4: 23) which lets us see the work of God.
What is greatest in us is not reason which discusses and argues, but an
intuition of the truth, which in a time seeks reasons to support it. When we
forget about this intuition which is in fact the dynamic of scientific
research, we are always capable of using reason in such a way that denies
the evidence of the divine presence in the universe. It is this divine
capacity that leads us to true wisdom.
Then, God had to reveal himself to us, so that this capacity to come to the
truth would lead to sound knowledge, decisive in terms of the direction of
our lives: in verses 11-14, the author re fers to the gift of the Law to
Israel through Moses.