Ben Sira 34:23

23 When one person builds and somebody else tears down, has anything been accomplished but hard work?

Ben Sira 34:23 In-Context

21 Food means life itself to poor people, and taking it away from them is murder.
22 It is murder to deprive someone of his living or to cheat an employee of his wages.
23 When one person builds and somebody else tears down, has anything been accomplished but hard work?
24 When one person blesses and somebody else curses, which one is the Lord going to listen to?
25 If you touch a dead body and then purify yourself by washing, but then go and touch it again, what good did the washing do?
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.