Ben Sira 34:1-8

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.

Cross References

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

Footnotes

• [a]. [Probable text] You see . . . to see; [Greek] The mind has an imagination like a woman in labor.