Sirach 17:17-27

17 God appointed a leader for each nation, and Israel is the Lord's responsibility.

19 All of their deeds are before him as plain as the sun, and his eyes are always on their ways.

20 Their wrongs are not hidden from him, and all their sins are exposed in the Lord's presence.

22 A person's acts of charity are like a seal with him, and he will treasure a person's generosity like the apple of his eye.

23 Afterward God will rise up and repay them; he will deliver their repayment upon their heads. who were abandoning hope.

24 However, for those who changed their hearts and minds, God granted a way back, and he encouraged those

25 Turn back to the Lord and leave sin behind; offer prayers in his presence, and reduce your offense.

26 Return to the Most High, and turn from injustice, and hate what he detests.

27 Who will praise the Most High in the grave instead of the living and those who give thanks?

Footnotes

• [a] LXXb 17:18 adds whom, being the oldest male, he nurtures with instruction, and, apportioning the light of his love, he doesn’t neglect Israel (or him).
• [b] LXXb adds 17:21 But the Lord, being kind and knowing how they are formed, neither neglected them nor stopped sparing them.
• [c] LXXb adds doling out changed lives to his sons and daughters.
• [d] LXXb adds because he will guide you out of darkness into the healthful light.
• [e] LXX Hades; Heb Sheol