Sirach — Chapter 3
Parents, Humility, and Mercy
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Hebrew–Greek comparison and notes · III. Wisdom
3:1 Listen to me, your father, children, and act accordingly, so that you may be saved.
3:2 For the Lord has honored a father over his children and confirmed a mother’s authority over her sons.
3:3 The one who honors a father atones for sins,
3:4 and the one who glorifies his mother is like someone storing up treasure.
3:5 The one who honors a father will be gladdened by children, and on the day of his prayer he will be heard.
3:6 The one who glorifies a father will have length of days, and the one who obeys the Lord will give his mother rest;
3:7 he will serve those who brought him into being as masters.
3:8 Honor your father in deed and word, so that a blessing may come upon you from him.
3:9 For a father’s blessing establishes the houses of children, but a mother’s curse uproots foundations.
3:10 Do not glory in your father’s dishonor, for a father’s dishonor is no glory to you.
3:11 For a person’s glory comes from his father’s honor, and a mother in disrepute is a reproach to her children.
3:12 Child, support your father in old age, and do not grieve him during his life.
3:13 Even if he loses understanding, be indulgent, and do not dishonor him in all your strength.
3:14 For mercy toward a father will not be forgotten; in place of sins it will be built up for you.
3:15 In the day of your affliction you will be remembered; as fair weather upon frost, so your sins will dissolve.
3:16 The one who abandons a father is like a blasphemer, and the one who provokes his mother is cursed by the Lord.
3:17 Child, carry out your works with gentleness, and you will be loved by an acceptable person.
3:18 The greater you are, the more humble yourself, and you will find favor before the Lord,
3:20 because the Lord’s dominion is great, and He is glorified by the humble.
3:21 Do not seek things too difficult for you, and do not investigate things beyond your strength.
3:22 Consider the things commanded you, for you have no need of hidden things.
3:23 Do not busy yourself with matters beyond your tasks, for more than human understanding has been shown to you.
3:24 For their assumption has misled many, and an evil suspicion has caused their thoughts to slip.
3:26 A hard heart will suffer harm at the last, and the one who loves danger will perish in it.
3:27 A hard heart will be weighed down with troubles, and the sinner will add sin upon sins.
3:28 There is no healing for a proud person’s calamity, for a plant of wickedness has taken root in him.
3:29 An understanding heart will consider a proverb, and a listening ear is the desire of a wise person.
3:30 Water will extinguish a blazing fire, and almsgiving will atone for sins.
3:31 The one who repays favors takes thought for what comes afterward, and at the time of his fall he will find support.
Source and editorial notes
Working translation preserved from the recovered manuscript of 8 September 2026. Declared source: Septuaginta, Rahlfs–Hanhart, 2006, Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, publisher’s Greek main text. Independent linguistic and critical-apparatus review remains outstanding. Source-access and reception claims in the inherited notes have not been freshly revalidated. Chapter and section headings are editorial.
The translator’s prologue is separate from the 51 chapters. Its eight source units map to publisher labels 1, 1a–1g; main-text 1:1 maps to 1h. Source 5:15 includes material often numbered 6:1, so chapter 6 begins at 6:2. Source label gaps are preserved; no text is invented.
3:1 The teacher speaks as father; the title is not silently replaced by a divine speaker.
3:2 Authority renders κρίσις, judgment or rightful decision.
3:3 The verb ἐξιλάσκεται is retained without weakening its stated effect.
3:7 The comparison to masters and the service language are explicit in the Greek.
3:14 The building image in προσανοικοδομηθήσεται is retained. Mercy is an act toward the father, not the father’s own giving.
3:17 Acceptable person follows ἀνθρώπου δεκτοῦ; this is not replaced by a comparison with a gift-giver.
3:18 The edition’s next label is 20; label 19 is absent.
3:23 The final clause is retained as a statement about what has been shown, not changed to a command against all inquiry.
3:24 Both ὑπόλημψις and ὑπόνοια are represented. The next printed label is 26; label 25 is absent.
3:30 The comparison and the explicit atonement verb are retained; almsgiving renders ἐλεημοσύνη in this setting. Verified reception: Cyprian, On Works and Alms 2, cites this fire-and-water comparison in teaching that works of mercy address sins committed after baptism. This reports his interpretation, read in Wallis’s English translation; it is not a claim of Latin or Greek textual collation. [CYP-ALMS-SIR]
3:31 The subject is the person repaying favors; a divine subject is not inserted.