Ben Sira 34:1-11

1 Foolish people are deceived by vain hopes, and dreams get them all excited. 1
2 A person who pays any attention at all to dreams is like someone who tries to catch shadows or chase the wind.
3 What you see in a dream is no more real than the reflection of your face in a mirror.
4 What is unreal can no more produce something real than what is dirty can produce something clean.
5 Dreams, divination, and omens are all nonsense. You see in them only what you want to see.
6 Unless the Most High has sent you the dream, pay no attention to it.
7 Dreams have misled many people; they put their faith in them, only to be disappointed.
8 The Law is complete without such falsehood. Wisdom, as spoken by the righteous, is also complete without it.
9 A well-traveled person with wide experience knows many things and talks sense.
10 You can't know much if you haven't experienced much, but travel can make you more clever.
11 In my own travels I have seen many things and learned more than I can put into words.

Cross References 1

  • 1. 34.1-8Deuteronomy 13.1-5; 18.9-14.

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. [Probable text] You see . . . to see; [Greek] The mind has an imagination like a woman in labor.
  • [b]. A well-traveled; [some manuscripts have] An educated.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.