Ben Sira 30:9-19

9 If you pamper your child and play with him, he will be a disappointment and a source of grief.
10 Laugh with him now, and one day you will have to cry over him, grinding your teeth in regret.
11 Don't give him freedom while he is young, and don't overlook what he does wrong.
12 Whip him while he is still a child, and make him respect your authority. If you don't, he will be stubborn and disobedient and cause you nothing but sorrow.
13 So discipline your son and give him work to do, or else he will be an embarrassment to you.
14 It is better to be poor, but strong and healthy, than to be rich, but in poor health.
15 A sound, healthy body and a cheerful attitude are more valuable than gold and jewels.
16 Nothing can make you richer or give you greater happiness than those two things.
17 It would be better to be dead, asleep forever, than to live in the misery of chronic illness.
18 The finest food means nothing if you are too sick to eat it; it might as well be offered to an idol.
19 But there is no point in offering food to an idol; it can't eat it or smell it. It is just the same with someone whom the Lord has afflicted.

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. [Hebrew] a cheerful attitude; [Greek] a strong body.
  • [b]. [Hebrew] offered to an idol; [Greek] placed on a grave.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.