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Wisdom of Ben Sira 40:1-3
New Catholic Bible
Wisdom of Ben Sira 40:1-3
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 40
The Painful Destiny Given to Human Beings[a]
1 Strenuous labor is the lot of everyone,
and a heavy yoke has been laid on the children of Adam,
from the day when one emerges from his mother’s womb
until the day when he returns to the earth, the mother of all the living.[b]
2 Matter for his reflection and anxiety for his heart
are offered by the thought of what awaits him and the day of death.
3 Whether he sits in splendor on a throne
or grovels in dust and ashes,
Footnotes
- Wisdom of Ben Sira 40:1 The author is a decided optimist, but he bows down before reality: the shadow of death stretches out over creation, and human sin has destroyed the beautiful harmony of the origins. And since he has hardly an inkling of redemption and even less of everlasting life, the author finds in the common lot of human beings a lesson of realism and humility (see Sir 10:6-18).
- Wisdom of Ben Sira 40:1 Mother of all the living: i.e., the earth (see Gen 2:7; 3:19-20; Job 1:21; Ps 139:15).
