Ben Sira 16:20-28

20 The Lord isn't going to give me a thought. Nobody cares what I do.

21 If I sin and am secretly disloyal, nobody will know it.

22 If I do what is right, nobody will tell the Lord about it. Who wants to wait for him, anyway? He is too slow in doing what he has said he would."

23 Only someone with very little sense, and foolishly misguided, would think things like that.

24 My child, listen and pay attention to me; you will gain knowledge if you do.

25 I will give you diligent and accurate instruction.

26 In the beginning the Lord did his work of creation, and gave everything a place of its own.

27 He arranged everything in an eternal order and decreed that it should be that way forever. Not one part of creation ever grows hungry; no part grows tired or stops its work.

28 The parts do not crowd one another, and they never disobey his word.

Footnotes

• [a]. [Hebrew] +V20-21+WThe Lord . . . know it; [Greek] +V20+WIt is altogether too big for the human mind to handle. No one can understand his ways. +V21+WMost of his works are just as invisible as the storm wind.
• [b]. [Hebrew] In . . . creation; [Greek] In the judgment of the Lord his works are from the beginning.