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Wisdom of Ben Sira 5:7-9
New Catholic Bible
Wisdom of Ben Sira 5:7-9
New Catholic Bible
7 Do not delay your return to the Lord,
and do not put it off from one day to the next.
For suddenly the wrath of the Lord will descend upon you,
and on the day of punishment you will be destroyed.
8 Do not rely upon ill-gotten gains,
for they will avail you nothing on the day of disaster.
Be Resolute and in Control of Yourself[a]
9 Do not winnow in every wind,
or walk along every road.[b]
Footnotes
- Wisdom of Ben Sira 5:9 Those who have few words are appreciated by all. This wisdom is suspicious of the dynamism of human beings and leads, above all, to condemnation of opportunism and instability. People must “be” rather than “seem to be.”
- Wisdom of Ben Sira 5:9 Do not winnow in every wind, or walk along every road: this is the author’s way of condemning duplicity. Some early MSS add: “as is the way of the double-tongued sinner,” which appears to be a doublet of verse 1.
