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1 The hopes of a man void of understanding are vain and false: and dreams lift up fools. 2 Whoso regardeth dreams is like him that catcheth at a shadow, and followeth after the wind. 3 The vision of dreams is the resemblance of one thing to another, even as the likeness of a face to a face. 4 Of an unclean thing what can be cleansed? and from that thing which is false what truth can come? 5 Divinations, and soothsayings, and dreams, are vain: and the heart fancieth, as a woman's heart in travail. 6 If they be not sent from the most High in thy visitation, set not thy heart upon them. 7 For dreams have deceived many, and they have failed that put their trust in them. 8 The law shall be found perfect without lies: and wisdom is perfection to a faithful mouth. 9 A man that hath travelled knoweth many things; and he that hath much experience will declare wisdom. 10 He that hath no experience knoweth little: but he that hath travelled is full of prudence. 11 When I travelled, I saw many things; and I understand more than I can express. 12 I was ofttimes in danger of death: yet I was delivered because of these things. 13 The spirit of those that fear the Lord shall live; for their hope is in him that saveth them. 14 Whoso feareth the Lord shall not fear nor be afraid; for he is his hope. 15 Blessed is the soul of him that feareth the Lord: to whom doth he look? and who is his strength? 16 For the eyes of the Lord are upon them that love him, he is their mighty protection and strong stay, a defence from heat, and a cover from the sun at noon, a preservation from stumbling, and an help from falling. 17 He raiseth up the soul, and lighteneth the eyes: he giveth health, life, and blessing. 18 He that sacrificeth of a thing wrongfully gotten, his offering is ridiculous; and the gifts of unjust men are not accepted. 19 The most High is not pleased with the offerings of the wicked; neither is he pacified for sin by the multitude of sacrifices. 20 Whoso bringeth an offering of the goods of the poor doeth as one that killeth the son before his father's eyes. 21 The bread of the needy is their life: he that defraudeth him thereof is a man of blood. 22 He that taketh away his neighbour's living slayeth him; and he that defraudeth the labourer of his hire is a bloodshedder. 23 When one buildeth, and another pulleth down, what profit have they then but labour? 24 When one prayeth, and another curseth, whose voice will the Lord hear? 25 He that washeth himself after the touching of a dead body, if he touch it again, what availeth his washing? 26 So is it with a man that fasteth for his sins, and goeth again, and doeth the same: who will hear his prayer? or what doth his humbling profit him?
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[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on Sirach 34:7
Know that the images that occur in dreams can be impressed on the soul in six different ways. Sometimes, in fact, dreams are caused by bad digestion or by fasting, at times they are the fruit of an illusion, at other times of reflection and illusion together, at still other times of revelation, and, finally, at times of reflection and revelation together. Everyone experiences the first two types. The other four, rather, we find in the pages of sacred Scripture. If, in fact, dreams were not for the most part provoked by the hidden enemy through an illusion, the wise man would not have put us on guard, saying, “Dreams have led many into error, and those who put their hope in them have gone astray.” Nor would he exhort us, “Do not practice any sort of divination or magic.” These words show unequivocally how one must flee from everything having anything to do with the divining arts. Furthermore, if dreams did not at times proceed from reflection joined to illusion, the wise man would never had said, “From many cares come dreams.” And if, at times, the mystery of a revelation did not give origin to dreams, Joseph would not have been revered by his brothers in a dream, nor would an angel have said to the husband of Mary in a dream to take the baby and flee to Egypt. Moreover, if dreams did not proceed from reflection together with a revelation, the prophet Daniel, when he interpreted the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, would not have begun by referring to a reflection, saying, “O king, the thoughts that came to you while you were in bed concern the future. He who reveals mysteries wanted to reveal to you what will take place.” And then, “As you watched, O king, you saw a statue, an enormous statue of extraordinary splendor, rising before you with a terrifying appearance.” Thus Daniel, while he cautiously allows it to be understood that the dream will become reality and shows from what reflection it was produced, clearly shows that at times a dream is born simultaneously from reflection and from a revelation. Clearly, precisely because dreams have such different characteristics and origins, the more difficult it is to discern what their source is, the less should one be inclined to put faith in them. The saints, however, by a special sensibility they possess, are able to distinguish between illusions and revelations and to penetrate the meaning of the words and images in visions. Thus they know either what they have received from the good spirit or what illusion they have been victimized by. But if a soul is not prudent regarding dreams, it will find itself lost in a forest of vanity through the work of the deceiving spirit, whose art it is at times to predict many true things, so as to then imprison the soul in the snare of a single lie.

Source: DIALOGUES 4:50.2-6
[AD 386] Cyril of Jerusalem on Sirach 34:10
“And lead us not into temptation,” Lord. Does the Lord perhaps teach us to pray that we will never be tempted? Why does he say elsewhere, “The person who has not been tempted is not proven,” and again, “Consider it supreme joy, brothers and sisters, when you fall into various temptations.” But to enter into temptation is not to let oneself be overwhelmed by temptation. In fact, temptation seems like a stream of difficult passage. Some, who do not let themselves be submerged by temptation, make it across. They are good swimmers who do not allow themselves to be carried away by the stream. Others, who are not good swimmers, are submerged when they enter the stream. Thus, for example, Judas, having entered into the temptation of avarice, did not overcome it but hanged himself, being materially and spiritually submerged. Peter entered into the temptation of denial6 but, overcoming it, was not submerged by it. He crossed the stream with courage and was not carried away. In yet another passage, listen to the chorus of the perfect saints, who give thanks for having escaped temptation. “You tried us, O God. Like silver you passed us through the fire. You pushed us into the snare, you laid sufferings on our backs. You made people pass over our heads. We passed through fire and water, and you have brought us to refreshment.”

Source: MYSTAGOGICAL LECTURES 5:17
[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on Sirach 34:20
If the fault is not burned at the roots right as it begins to spread, the thorn of avarice, spreading through the branches, will never dry up. The occasion for stealing is removed, therefore, if the limits of the right of possession are clearly established beforehand. Only those who have been admonished in this way should then hear how they should mercifully distribute what they possess. That is, when they have learned to not mix the good of mercy with the wickedness of theft, since they will later seek, with violence, what they had earlier bestowed in mercy. It is one thing to be merciful toward sins and another to sin so as to be merciful—which, besides, can no longer be called mercy, because the tree that has become bitter cannot yield sweet fruit, due to the poison of a diseased root. For this reason the Lord reproves the sacrifices themselves through the prophet, saying, “I the Lord love justice and hate thievery in sacrifices.” He also says, “The sacrifices of the impious are an abomination, issuing from crimes.” This is because they often take what they offer to God from the poor. But the Lord shows with what blame he rejects them, saying through a wise man, “One sacrifices a son before his own father who offers a sacrifice with the goods of the poor.” What could be more unbearable than the death of a son before his father’s eyes? In this way it shows the wrath with which this sacrifice is regarded, which is compared with the sorrow of a father deprived of his son. And yet, they frequently weigh up what they give but fail to consider what they steal. They count what they give as though it were wages due but refuse to attentively weigh their wrongs. Listen, then, to what is written: “The one who gathered wages put them in a sack with a hole in it,” since one sees when he puts the money into such a sack, but he does not see when he loses it.

Source: PASTORAL RULE 3:21
[AD 545] Venerable Barsanuphius and John the Prophet on Sirach 34:23
If a person does not do what he can, uniting himself to the prayers of the saints, neither does he derive any benefit if the saints pray for him. If they abstain and intercede for him but he abandons himself to dissoluteness and pleasure, what good is their prayer for him? The word is thus fulfilled, “If one builds and another destroys, what good is further labor?” If this could in fact occur, that the one for whom the saints prayed would be saved without him making even a minimum of effort, nothing would stop them from doing this for all the sinners in the world. The sinner, moreover, if he does make a bit of effort, also has need of the prayers of the righteous. As the apostle says, “The intense prayer of the righteous can do much.” This happens when a holy and righteous person intercedes and the sinner cooperates with the saints’ prayers, to the extent possible for him, by penance, being unable to pay his debt by himself. His contribution is small, but that of the prayer of the saints is great. It is as though someone needed to carry ten sacks of grain and was unable to carry even two but finds a God-fearing person who takes nine of them, leaving him with just one. And he is protected in this way until he arrives safe and sound, unharmed by robbers. This also is the same thing.

Source: BOOK OF LETTERS 616
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Sirach 34:25
It was not Donatus of Carthage who established that Christians had to be rebaptized, as I thought when I responded to his letter. Nor is it true that he drew the words necessary for his purpose directly from an expression of Ecclesiasticus, where it is written, “If a person is baptized after touching a dead person and touches him again, what good was it for him to wash.” He claims it reads, “If someone is baptized by a dead person, what good was it for him to wash?” We later ascertained that even before the Donatist party existed, many codices—mostly, to be honest, African—did not have in this context the words “and touches him again.”

Source: RETRACTATIONS 1:21.3
[AD 533] Fulgentius of Ruspe on Sirach 34:26
When it is said to a sinner who desires to receive the benefit of salvation that if he converts and groans he will be saved, one must also understand that if he groans but is not converted, he will not be saved. Indeed, not in vain did the Word of God unite both these elements, that we might know that both are necessary, conversion and groaning, to attain salvation. Some, in fact, humiliated by the consideration of their offenses, groan in prayer over their iniquities, but, this notwithstanding, they do not distance themselves from their bad actions. They recognize they have behaved badly but do not want to put an end to their wicked actions. They humbly denounce before God the sins that oppress them but obstinately pile up in their perverse heart the same sins they denounce with their humble speech. The indulgence that they ask for with tearful groanings, they take away by their bad actions. They ask the doctor for medicine and give sustenance to the sickness, to their ruin. And thus vainly they seek by their words to placate the just judge, who they incite to greater fury by wicked actions. Such people will never purify their sins with groanings, because they do not stop sinning after their groaning. They groan for their misdeeds, and after they groan, they return to them. In Ecclesiasticus, the sacred Scripture speaks of such persons thusly: “The one who purifies himself after having touched a dead person and touches him again, what good did it do him to have been purified? Likewise, the person who fasts for his sins and again does the same actions, what advantage does he gain from humiliating himself? Who will listen to his prayers?” Fine, says God to such a person, “If you convert and groan, you will be saved.” With the severe and good God, when one has turned to God with the humility of a contrite heart, then the prayer of the one who groans will be heard, the request made with tears will be attended to, salvation will be granted to the one who weeps. Certainly God will pardon the sinner and have mercy on him if the sinner acknowledges his iniquity by conversion.

Source: ON THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS 1:12.1-2