Sirach 10:7-18

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

⁷ Arrogance is hateful to the Lord and to mortals,
    and injustice is outrageous to both.^(A)
8 Sovereignty passes from nation to nation
    on account of injustice and insolence and wealth.^[a](B)
9 How can dust and ashes be proud?
    Even in life the human body is infested with worms.^[b](C)
10 A long illness mocks the physician;
    the king of today will die tomorrow.^(D)
11 For when humans die
    they inherit maggots and vermin^[c] and worms.^(E)
12 The beginning of human pride is to forsake the Lord;
    the heart has withdrawn from its Maker.^(F)
13 For the beginning of pride is sin,
    and the one who clings to it pours out abominations.
Therefore the Lord brought upon them unheard-of calamities
    and destroyed them completely.^[d]
14 The Lord overthrew the thrones of rulers
    and enthroned the lowly in their place.^(G)
15 The Lord plucked up the roots of the nations^[e]
    and planted the humble in their place.
¹⁶ The Lord laid waste the lands of the nations
    and destroyed them to the foundations of the earth.^(H)
17 He removed some of them and destroyed them
    and erased the memory of them from the earth.^(I)
18 Pride was not created for human beings
    or violent anger for those born of women.