Ben Sira 13:13-23

13 Keep your secrets to yourself and be very careful, for you are always walking on dangerous ground.
15 Every creature prefers its own kind, and people are no different.
16 Just as animals of the same species flock together, so people keep company with people like themselves.
17 A sinner has no more in common with a devout person than a wolf has with a lamb.
18 Rich people have no more in common with poor people than hyenas have with dogs.
19 The rich hunt down the poor just as lions hunt down wild donkeys in the open country.
20 Arrogant people have nothing but scorn for the humble, and the rich think of the poor in the same way.
21 When a rich person stumbles, his friends will steady him, but if a poor person falls, his friends will have nothing to do with him.
22 When someone rich makes a mistake, there are many people to cover up for him and explain away all the things he never should have said. But let someone poor make a mistake, and he gets nothing but criticism. Even if what he says makes good sense, nobody will listen.
23 When a rich person speaks, everyone is silent, and they praise him to the skies for what he says. But let a poor person speak, and everybody says, "Who is that?" They push him down if he so much as stumbles.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. [Some manuscripts add verses 13b-14:] When you hear this in your sleep, wake up! +V14+WAs long as you live, love the Lord and call on him to rescue you.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.