Sirach 3:1-16
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Duties toward Parents
3 Listen to me your father, O children;
act accordingly, that you may be safe.
2 For the Lord honors a father above his children,
and he confirms a mother’s judgment over her sons.(A)
3 Those who honor their father atone for sins,(B)
4 and those who respect their mother are like those who lay up treasure.(C)
5 Those who honor their father will have joy in their children,
and when they pray they will be heard.
6 Those who respect their father will have long life,
and those who honor[a] their mother obey the Lord;[b](D)
7 they will serve their parents as their masters.[c](E)
8 Honor your father by word and deed,
that his blessing may come upon you.(F)
9 For a father’s blessing strengthens the houses of the children,
but a mother’s curse uproots their foundations.(G)
10 Do not glorify yourself by your father’s dishonor,
for your father’s dishonor is no glory to you.
11 The honor of one’s father is one’s own glory,
and a mother dishonored is a disgrace to her children.(H)
12 My child, help your father in his old age,
and do not grieve him as long as he lives;(I)
13 even if his mind fails, be patient with him;
do not despise him because you have all your faculties.
14 For kindness to a father will not be forgotten
and will be credited to you against your sins;(J)
15 in the day of your distress it will be remembered in your favor;
like frost in fair weather, your sins will melt away.
16 Whoever forsakes a father is like a blasphemer,
and whoever angers a mother is cursed by the Lord.(K)
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.