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1 Wisdom lifteth up the head of him that is of low degree, and maketh him to sit among great men. 2 Commend not a man for his beauty; neither abhor a man for his outward appearance. 3 The bee is little among such as fly; but her fruit is the chief of sweet things. 4 Boast not of thy clothing and raiment, and exalt not thyself in the day of honour: for the works of the Lord are wonderful, and his works among men are hidden. 5 Many kings have sat down upon the ground; and one that was never thought of hath worn the crown. 6 Many mighty men have been greatly disgraced; and the honourable delivered into other men's hands. 7 Blame not before thou hast examined the truth: understand first, and then rebuke. 8 Answer not before thou hast heard the cause: neither interrupt men in the midst of their talk. 9 Strive not in a matter that concerneth thee not; and sit not in judgment with sinners. 10 My son, meddle not with many matters: for if thou meddle much, thou shalt not be innocent; and if thou follow after, thou shalt not obtain, neither shalt thou escape by fleeing. 11 There is one that laboureth, and taketh pains, and maketh haste, and is so much the more behind. 12 Again, there is another that is slow, and hath need of help, wanting ability, and full of poverty; yet the eye of the Lord looked upon him for good, and set him up from his low estate, 13 And lifted up his head from misery; so that many that saw from him is peace over all the 14 Prosperity and adversity, life and death, poverty and riches, come of the Lord. 15 Wisdom, knowledge, and understanding of the law, are of the Lord: love, and the way of good works, are from him. 16 Error and darkness had their beginning together with sinners: and evil shall wax old with them that glory therein. 17 The gift of the Lord remaineth with the ungodly, and his favour bringeth prosperity for ever. 18 There is that waxeth rich by his wariness and pinching, and this his the portion of his reward: 19 Whereas he saith, I have found rest, and now will eat continually of my goods; and yet he knoweth not what time shall come upon him, and that he must leave those things to others, and die. 20 Be stedfast in thy covenant, and be conversant therein, and wax old in thy work. 21 Marvel not at the works of sinners; but trust in the Lord, and abide in thy labour: for it is an easy thing in the sight of the Lord on the sudden to make a poor man rich. 22 The blessing of the Lord is in the reward of the godly, and suddenly he maketh his blessing flourish. 23 Say not, What profit is there of my service? and what good things shall I have hereafter? 24 Again, say not, I have enough, and possess many things, and what evil shall I have hereafter? 25 In the day of prosperity there is a forgetfulness of affliction: and in the day of affliction there is no more remembrance of prosperity. 26 For it is an easy thing unto the Lord in the day of death to reward a man according to his ways. 27 The affliction of an hour maketh a man forget pleasure: and in his end his deeds shall be discovered. 28 Judge none blessed before his death: for a man shall be known in his children. 29 Bring not every man into thine house: for the deceitful man hath many trains. 30 Like as a partridge taken [and kept] in a cage, so is the heart of the proud; and like as a spy, watcheth he for thy fall: 31 For he lieth in wait, and turneth good into evil, and in things worthy praise will lay blame upon thee. 32 Of a spark of fire a heap of coals is kindled: and a sinful man layeth wait for blood. 33 Take heed of a mischievous man, for he worketh wickedness; lest he bring upon thee a perpetual blot. 34 Receive a stranger into thine house, and he will disturb thee, and turn thee out of thine own.
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[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Sirach 11:3
God shows that the prescriptions of the Law are not arduous. His requests of humankind are not inordinate. In fact, those beings without reason, and even the most senseless among them, easily obey what he commands. Someone might allege, however, that they instinctually have the capacity to know. Therefore it is possible that what they rightly do by instinct we do through our own choice. “The ox knows his owner.” Not only does he place before them how exceptional his gift is, but he further intensifies his accusation against their inordinate wickedness by comparing them not with other human beings but with the elements of nature—those, in particular, who are without reason and are the most senseless among them. He says that they are even worse than these. This is also what Jeremiah does, bringing into play the turtledove and the swallow. Solomon, too, does something similar, returning the one who lives an idle life to now face the ant, now the bee.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 1:2-3
[AD 856] Rabanus Maurus on Sirach 11:7
Avoid reckless judgments. This is why the Lord commands that the innocent, or the one against whom there is only one witness, should not be punished. Instead, “everything must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.” Likewise, the apostle orders Timothy to “not receive accusations against an elder without the deposition of two or three witnesses.”

Source: ON ECCLESIASTICUS 3:4
[AD 856] Rabanus Maurus on Sirach 11:10
Divine wisdom teaches its children not to overly struggle to obtain earthly profits, for otherwise you will not avoid such adversity as greed, envy and similar pains. Therefore it is written in the book of Proverbs, “The one with a covetous eye is impatient to enrich himself and does not consider that misery will fall on him.” And again, “He who is greedy of dishonest gain troubles his own house,” and, “Better is little with the fear of the Lord than a great treasure with trouble,” and, in Qoheleth, “He who loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loves abundance with profit.”

Source: ON ECCLESIASTICUS 3:4
[AD 455] Prosper of Aquitaine on Sirach 11:14
God in truth has created the body and the spirit of every single human being. Besides the diversity each person may choose to pursue, there is an infinite variety created by God beyond what could be voluntarily achieved by everyone in what each person receives at the beginning of his or her existence. But there are those who would upset us and many who would lead us astray with their vain sayings and false opinions among those who presume to be in the know about unknowable things, having attributed these original differences to fate (even if it does not exist) and to the stars. But we are firmly convinced that God the creator forms all the different types and models of things according to his will from the original elements, and although the nature of the spirit is of one kind and the body another, he deals with them according to the methods most agreeable to him. And surely these acts of God would not have been withdrawn from human knowing if there was a reason for them to be known; or it would be clearly revealed why everything happens the way it does, if it were not sufficient to know that it happens in this way. The Lord said to Moses, “Who has given speech to humankind and who has made the dumb and the deaf, the seeing and the blind? Is it not perhaps I the Lord God?” And again in Isaiah, “ ‘Have I not made the sterile and the fecund?’ says the Lord.” In the book of Ecclesiasticus there is the saying, “Good and evil, life and death, poverty and riches come from the Lord.” And Job says, “The tents of robbers are at peace, and with impudence they provoke God, even though he has given everything into their hands.”

Source: THE CALL OF ALL NATIONS 1:14
[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on Sirach 11:25
Since Job was patient and was supported by the serenity of his soul in the midst of a malicious people, he said, “Did perhaps the men of my tent not say, ‘To whom has he not given his flesh to be satisfied?’ ” So, why, now, does a holy person list all of his merits in the midst of scourges? Why does he praise with his mouth the works he has done, if not because in the midst of the plagues and of the words that could otherwise drive him to despair, he leads his soul back to hope? He who was humble in prosperity remembers his merits and thus does not lose heart in his adversity. In the midst of many scourges, indeed, these words would have induced despair in the soul of anyone who could not have recalled to his own memory the good he had done. The holy person, therefore, having to listen to all these evil things, saw his mind driven to desperation. He did everything he could to anchor himself in the secure hope of his own good works. Thus is fulfilled what is written: “On good days remember the bad, on bad days remember the good.” If, indeed, when we have good days we remember the bad ones that we have already suffered or that we may yet suffer, we do not think overly highly of ourselves for the good things that we have received because the fear that springs from the memory of the bad things we have experienced contains the joy we have over the good things that have happened to us. And the same holds true for when we are in trouble: if at those times we remember the good things we have received or that we still hope to receive, the burden of our trouble will not push our soul toward desperation because the memory of the good that has happened to us lifts us toward hope.

Source: HOMILIES ON EZEKIEL 2:7.20
[AD 435] John Cassian on Sirach 11:28
But that even the powers above are, as we said, subject to change is shown by those who fell from their ranks through the fault of a corrupt will. This is why we should not think that the nature of those who remain in the blessed condition in which they were created is unchangeable, simply because they were not similarly led astray to choose the worse part. For it is one thing to have a nature incapable of change and another thing for a person through the efforts of his virtue, and by guarding what is good through the grace of the unchangeable God, to be kept from change. For everything that is secured or preserved by care can also be lost by carelessness. And so we read, “Call no one happy before his death,” because so long as an individual is still engaged in the struggle, and if I may use the expression, still wrestling—even though he generally conquers and carries off many prizes of victory—yet he can never be free from fear and from the suspicion of an uncertain outcome. And therefore God alone is called unchangeable and good because his goodness is not the result of effort, but he possesses it naturally, and so he cannot be anything but good. No virtue then can be acquired by an individual without the possibility of change. However, in order that when it once exists it may be continually preserved, it must be guarded with the same care and diligence with which it was acquired.

Source: CONFERENCES 1:6.16
[AD 749] John Damascene on Sirach 11:28
Death, previously abhorred and hated, is now the object of praise and declared blessed. What at one time procured pain and sadness, tears and melancholy, now appears as a source of joy and feasting. All the servants of God enjoy a blessed death because the end of their lives bears the security of being welcomed by God. In fact, they become perfect, and this perfection renders them blessed, giving them the solidity of virtue, as the oracle affirms, “Do not judge a person blessed before his death.”

Source: HOMILY ON THE DORMITION 1:12
[AD 420] Palladius of Galatia on Sirach 11:29
I have not intended in the least to diminish the virtue of our ancestors, and above all the virtue of hospitality. In reality, among the virtues practiced by the most eminent of the patriarchs, this is the only one that tends toward piety. One of them had God the Savior at his own table; another had the angels as his guests; one received as a reward a son at his advanced age; the other his own salvation, fleeing from Sodom. This is what the apostle is talking about when he exhorts us to imitate them: “Do not neglect to show hospitality; for thereby some have received angels without knowing it.” It happens, however, that the one who offers hospitality has the prudence of the serpent and the simplicity of the dove, thus complying with the double precept of the Lord: “Give to every one who asks of you,” and, “Do not bring such a person into your home.” This is so that you do not run the danger of bringing a wolf to the place where the lamb dwells or a bear to the place where the ox resides, with the risk of turning your gain into a loss. It is first of all necessary to be aware of the place where you are—if it is deserted or has frequent visitors. Then, you must also be aware of your own ability to tolerate characters that are too difficult. Finally, you must well consider who it is who is destined to receive your benefits—whether he is rich or poor, healthy or weak, in need of food or clothes. These are the areas where acts of mercy come into play. In reality, the blessed Abraham did not receive into his home consuls, captains, the important people of this temporary world like those who have horses with bridles and glittering stirrups and whose harnesses, burnished with bronze, belch forth from afar the resonance of their pride. On the contrary, Abraham lived in a deserted place and welcomed all who passed by. Those who traveled the desert went to the patriarch because they were attracted by his virtue and because they were reduced to being beggars, which is about as extreme a poverty as you can get. In a similar way Lot, who lived in the worst city of that same desert, rightly welcomed all who passed by, given the customs of those inhabitants.

Source: DIALOGUE ON THE LIFE OF SAINT JOHN CHRYSOSTOM 12