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1 There shall no evil happen unto him that feareth the Lord; but in temptation even again he will deliver him. 2 A wise man hateth not the law; but he that is an hypocrite therein is as a ship in a storm. 3 A man of understanding trusteth in the law; and the law is faithful unto him, as an oracle. 4 Prepare what to say, and so thou shalt be heard: and bind up instruction, and then make answer. 5 The heart of the foolish is like a cartwheel; and his thoughts are like a rolling axletree. 6 A stallion horse is as a mocking friend, he neigheth under every one that sitteth upon him. 7 Why doth one day excel another, when as all the light of every day in the year is of the sun? 8 By the knowledge of the Lord they were distinguished: and he altered seasons and feasts. 9 Some of them hath he made high days, and hallowed them, and some of them hath he made ordinary days. 10 And all men are from the ground, and Adam was created of earth: 11 In much knowledge the Lord hath divided them, and made their ways diverse. 12 Some of them hath he blessed and exalted and some of them he sanctified, and set near himself: but some of them hath he cursed and brought low, and turned out of their places. 13 As the clay is in the potter's hand, to fashion it at his pleasure: so man is in the hand of him that made him, to render to them as liketh him best. 14 Good is set against evil, and life against death: so is the godly against the sinner, and the sinner against the godly. 15 So look upon all the works of the most High; and there are two and two, one against another. 16 I awaked up last of all, as one that gathereth after the grapegatherers: by the blessing of the Lord I profited, and tred my winepress like a gatherer of grapes. 17 Consider that I laboured not for myself only, but for all them that seek learning. 18 Hear me, O ye great men of the people, and hearken with your ears, ye rulers of the congregation. 19 Give not thy son and wife, thy brother and friend, power over thee while thou livest, and give not thy goods to another: lest it repent thee, and thou intreat for the same again. 20 As long as thou livest and hast breath in thee, give not thyself over to any. 21 For better it is that thy children should seek to thee, than that thou shouldest stand to their courtesy. 22 In all thy works keep to thyself the preeminence; leave not a stain in thine honour. 23 At the time when thou shalt end thy days, and finish thy life, distribute thine inheritance. 24 Fodder, a wand, and burdens, are for the ass; and bread, correction, and work, for a servant. . 25 If thou set thy servant to labour, thou shalt find rest: but if thou let him go idle, he shall seek liberty. 26 A yoke and a collar do bow the neck: so are tortures and torments for an evil servant. 27 Send him to labour, that he be not idle; for idleness teacheth much evil. 28 Set him to work, as is fit for him: if he be not obedient, put on more heavy fetters. 29 But be not excessive toward any; and without discretion do nothing. 30 If thou have a servant, let him be unto thee as thyself, because thou hast bought him with a price. 31 If thou have a servant, entreat him as a brother: for thou hast need of him, as of thine own soul: if thou entreat him evil, and he run from thee, which way wilt thou go to seek him?
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[AD 367] Hilary of Poitiers on Sirach 33:10
So as not to refer these words to the lifeless mass of this earth, the totality of all of us who are generated from the earth in Adam, our progenitor, is designated in the plural, when it says, “Cry out to God in joy, all the earth.” In fact, in this verse both our duty and the origin of all people are recalled at the same time.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 65:4
[AD 856] Rabanus Maurus on Sirach 33:19
Reason teaches the immediate sense of these things to parents, concerning the right way to rule over their children and to raise them strictly until they have reached maturity, so that they will be worthy heirs of their parents after they are gone. Moreover, according to the spiritual sense it instructs the leaders of the church, so that they might preserve the dignity of their order until death, with a deliberate authority and right guidance. In this way they will leave disciples who have been raised well and who will be useful heirs of their works.

Source: ON ECCLESIASTICUS 7:11
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Sirach 33:27
If, following the devil’s promise that after the transgression he would be seen as equal to God, the man actually enjoyed such an honor, then he would have fallen into three extreme evils. First of all, he would have thought that God was jealous, a deceiver and a liar. Second, that the real deceiver and the father of lies2 and envy was in fact a benefactor and a friend. And third, he would have continued to sin for all eternity. But God kept all this far from the man by casting him out of paradise. In the same way a doctor who ignores a wound produces a worse inflammation. But if he resorts to an incision, he prevents the infection from spreading. Nor did God stop there, but he also added sweat and toil, because it is the nature of human beings to not be made for relaxation. And if, though being inflicted with these punishments, we persist in sin, what would we have not dared to do if God had moved us toward softness and idleness? “Idleness teaches many evils,” it is said. Both what happens every day and the things that happened to those who came before us testify to this. It is written, in fact, that “the people sat down to eat, then rose up to revel.” And, “you became fat, gross and bloated, and the one who was beloved has rejected God.”

Source: TO STAGIRIUS WHO WAS TORMENTED BY A DEVIL 1:3