Sirach 34:21-31
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Offering Sacrifices
21 If one sacrifices ill-gotten goods, the offering is blemished;[a](A)
22 the gifts[b] of the lawless are not acceptable.
23 The Most High is not pleased with the offerings of the ungodly,
nor for a multitude of sacrifices does he forgive sins.(B)
24 Like one who kills a son before his father’s eyes
is the person who offers a sacrifice from the property of the poor.(C)
25 The bread of the needy is the life of the poor;
whoever deprives them of it is a murderer.
26 To take away a neighbor’s living is to commit murder;(D)
27 to deprive an employee of wages is to shed blood.(E)
28 When one builds and another tears down,
what do they gain but hard work?
29 When one prays and another curses,
to whose voice will the Lord listen?
30 If one washes after touching a corpse and touches it again,
what has been gained by washing?(F)
31 So if one fasts for his sins
and goes again and does the same things,
who will listen to his prayer?
And what has he gained by humbling himself?(G)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.