Ben Sira 4:5-15

5 Do not avert your eye from the needy, and give no one reason to curse you;
6 for if in bitterness of soul some should curse you, their Creator will hear their prayer.
7 Endear yourself to the congregation; bow your head low to the great.
8 Give a hearing to the poor, and return their greeting politely.
9 Rescue the oppressed from the oppressor; and do not be hesitant in giving a verdict.
10 Be a father to orphans, and be like a husband to their mother; you will then be like a son of the Most High, and he will love you more than does your mother.
11 Wisdom teaches her children and gives help to those who seek her.
12 Whoever loves her loves life, and those who seek her from early morning are filled with joy.
13 Whoever holds her fast inherits glory, and the Lord blesses the place she enters.
14 Those who serve her minister to the Holy One; the Lord loves those who love her.
15 Those who obey her will judge the nations, and all who listen to her will live secure.

Footnotes 2

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.