Sirach
As found in the Greek Septuagint
GNB
Chapter 16
Sirach 16:1 A large family is nothing to be desired if the children are worthless. Godless children are nothing to be proud of.
Sirach 16:2 No matter how many children you have, don't look on them with pride unless they fear the Lord.
Sirach 16:3 Don't put much hope in their future or expect them to live a long time. One child who does the Lord's will is better than a thousand who do not. It is better to go to your grave with no children at all than to have children who are godless.
Sirach 16:4 A city's population may grow because of the wisdom of one person, while a whole tribe of lawless people disappears.
Sirach 16:5 I have seen such things many times and have heard of even more striking examples.
Sirach 16:6 The Lord's flaming anger will break out against a small gathering of sinners or a disobedient nation.
Sirach 16:7 He did not forgive those ancient giants who rebelled against him, confident of their own strength.
Sirach 16:8 He detested the arrogance of the people among whom Lot lived, and he did not spare them.
Sirach 16:9 He showed no mercy on the nation which he doomed to destruction for its sins,
Sirach 16:10 nor on those 600,000 people on the march through the wilderness who gathered together in stubborn rebellion.
Sirach 16:11 Even if there had been only one stubborn person, it would have been a miracle if he had escaped punishment. The Lord is merciful, but he can also become angry. He can be overwhelming in his forgiveness or in his anger.
Sirach 16:12 His punishment is as severe as his mercy is great. He judges people by what they have done.
Sirach 16:13 No sinner can escape with what he has stolen. The Lord will reward the patience of devout people.
Sirach 16:14 Every righteous person will be rewarded; everyone will get what he deserves.
Sirach 16:17 Never say, "I will hide from the Lord. Nobody up there is going to give me a thought. How can I be noticed among so many people? The creation is so enormous, what am I worth?
Sirach 16:18 When the Lord comes, everything will tremble: the earth and the great waters beneath it, the sky and the heavens above it.
Sirach 16:19 The mountains will sake, and the foundations of the earth will shudder when he looks at them.
Sirach 16:20 The Lord isn't going to give me a thought. No body cares what I do.
Sirach 16:21 If I sin and am secretly disloyal, nobody will know it.
Sirach 16:22 If I do what is right, nobody will tell the Lord about it. Who wants to wait for him, anyway? He is slow in doing what he has said he would."
Sirach 16:23 Only someone with very little sense, and foolishly misguided, would think things like that.
Sirach 16:24 My child, listen and pay attention to me; you will gain knowledge if you do.
Sirach 16:25 I will give you diligent and accurate instruction.
Sirach 16:26 In the beginning the Lord did his work of creation, and gave everything a place of its own.
Sirach 16:27 He arranged everything in an eternal order and decreed that it should be that way forever. Not one part of creation ever grows hungry; no part grows tired or stops its work.
Sirach 16:28 The parts do not crowd one another, and they never disobey his word.
Sirach 16:29 When the Lord had made all this, he looked at the earth and filled it with good things.
Sirach 16:30 He covered it with all kinds of creatures that must die and return to the dust.