Dreams
1 The foolish are deceived by vain and false hopes; dreams give them wings.
2 To rely on dreams is like grasping a shadow or chasing the wind.
3 What you see in dreams are only re flections: a person sees his own image.
4 What clean thing can come from what is unclean? What truth comes from what is false?
5 Divinations, omens and dreams are empty like the fantasies of a woman in labor.
6 Unless they come as messengers of the Most High, do not pay at tention to them.
7 For dreams have led many peo ple astray. Those who hoped in them have fallen.
8 Not so the Law, which never fails but comes true. Wisdom from the truthful lips of God is the highest truth.
9 One who has traveled knows a great deal, and a man of wide experience will talk soundly.
10 A person who has not had trials knows very little. But the traveled man is competent in many ways.
11 I have made many discoveries on my travels and understood more than I can express.
12 I have often been in danger of death but have been saved thanks to my experience.
13 The spirit of those who fear the Lord will live, for their hope is placed in the One who saves.
14 He who fears the Lord is in dread of nothing. He will not be cowardly for he is his hope.
15 He who fears the Lord is a happy person. To whom does he turn? Who is his support?
16 The eyes of the Lord are on those who love him. For them he is powerful protection, strong support, shelter against scorching wind and the midday sun. He is a safeguard against stumbling and assurance against a fall.
17 He lifts up the soul and gives a sparkle to the eyes; he gives healing, life and blessing.
Offerings pleasing to God
18 An offering to God from stolen goods is a stained offering, the sacrifices of the wicked do not please God.
19 The Most High takes no pleasure in the offering of the godless. It is not the number of victims that ob tains pardon for sin.
20 Offering to God from what belongs to the poor is like slaughtering a son in the presence of his father.
21 Bread is life to the poor; he who takes it from them is a mur derer.
22 He who deprives others of a livelihood kills them, and who ever withdraws the salary of a worker is guilty of blood.
23 If one builds and the other de stroys, what do they gain besides trou ble?
24 If one prays and the other curses, whose voice will the Master listen to?
25 If a man is cleansed after touching a corpse and then touches it again, what good was there in his cleansing?
26 If anyone fasts for his sins and then commits the same sins, who will hear his prayer? What value is there in his fasting?
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Comments Sirach, Chapter 34
• 34.1 Previously in Israel, dreams were very im portant. Here we have a reaction against dreams. Without denying that, in some cases, God can guide or warn the believer through a dream, the au thor teaches that we must not be guided by dreams: the sure way is to fulfill God’s Law (see commentary on Gen 37).
• 18. What infuriates the sacred author is that after they have stripped the hum ble, the rich come to the Temple to offer their magnificent presents.