Sirach 34:1-8
Revised Standard Version
Dreams Mean Nothing
34 A man of no understanding has vain and false hopes,
and dreams give wings to fools.
2 As one who catches at a shadow and pursues the wind,
so is he who gives heed to dreams.
3 The vision of dreams is this against that,
the likeness of a face confronting a face.
4 From an unclean thing what will be made clean?
And from something false what will be true?
5 Divinations and omens and dreams are folly,
and like a woman in travail the mind has fancies.
6 Unless they are sent from the Most High as a visitation,
do not give your mind to them.
7 For dreams have deceived many,
and those who put their hope in them have failed.
8 Without such deceptions the law will be fulfilled,
and wisdom is made perfect in truthful lips.
Sirach 34:18-22
Revised Standard Version
Offering Sacrifices
18 If one sacrifices from what has been wrongfully obtained, the offering is blemished;[a]
the gifts[b] of the lawless are not acceptable.
19 The Most High is not pleased with the offerings of the ungodly;
and he is not propitiated for sins by a multitude of sacrifices.
20 Like one who kills a son before his father’s eyes
is the man who offers a sacrifice from the property of the poor.
21 The bread of the needy is the life of the poor;
whoever deprives them of it is a man of blood.
22 To take away a neighbor’s living is to murder him;
to deprive an employee of his wages is to shed blood.
Footnotes
- Sirach 34:18 Other authorities read is made in mockery
- Sirach 34:18 Other authorities read mockeries
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.