(ECCLESIASTICUS) WISDOM OF SIRACH CHAPTER 18 - 27

SIRACH 18

1 He who lives forever created
The universe entire instated.
2 YHWH only will be declared just,
All others are laid in the trust.
3 4 To none has He given power to state
His works, and who can search the gate
Of His great deeds and then relate?
5 Who can measure His glorious power?
Who can fully recount the tower
Of His mercies? 6 None can diminish
Them and no one can start or finish
Of their increase, nor can one trace
The wonders of YHWH and His grace.

The logic here is not too hard to follow,
Although it might hook and sweep like a swallow.
The reason You only are just is that
You are Creator of both hill and flat.
Justice requires the knowledge of all things
Relevant to the question in the rings.
Only the One who made the world can be
Just in that world, since He only can see
All sides of every issue and still know
That nothing important escapes His show.
My human way of looking at the facts
Is that my feelings tell me which of acts
Is right and which is wrong. Yet reason knows
My limitations must prevent the flows.

7 When a man has finished, he’s just
Beginning, when he hits the dust
He will be at a loss, astonished.
8 What is man, and how’s he admonished?
What is his good and what his ill?
9 The number of man’s days is great
If he reaches a hundred’s state.
10 Like a water drop from the sea
And a grain of sand there to be,
So are a few years in the lea
Of man’s life in eternity.
11 Therefore YHWH is patient with them
And pours out His mercy on them.
12 He sees and recognizes their
End will be evil for their share,
Therefore He grants them forgiveness
In an abundance and address.

The one thing every man must know for sure
About reality and temperature
Is that when everything he knows is counted
He realizes that all it’s amounted
Falls short of the whole universe of mind
And space and matter and of every kind.
The human limitation is the stock
Of knowing that is absolute like rock.
Beloved, Your mercy does not depend on
The weight of righteous acts before the dawn,
The weight of sorrow for having withdrawn,
But on the great extent of limitations
That apply to each soul in all the nations.
Such universal grace is treatful rations.

13 The compassion of man is for
His neighbour, but compassion’s store
Of YHWH is for all living things,
Both with their horns and with their stings.
He rebukes, trains and teaches them,
And turns them back into His hem
As a shepherd his flock in gem.
14 He has compassion on those who
Accept His discipline and who
Are eager for His judgments too.

Despite the grace that’s infinite in You
And limitations that afflict the crew
Of humankind and so awaken state
Of mercy in Your heart, because it’s great,
You spread that mercy on those who do not
Fail to accept Your discipline in lot,
And who are eager for Your judgement’s dot.
So grace is great, but mercy chooses late.
Beloved, Your name is gracious by the call
Of the Qur’an upon the earthly ball,
And after grace is given to one and all,
There still remains Your mercy at the gate:
Each moment and each soul call for their rate,
And some go into glory, some to fate.

15 My son, don’t mix reproach with your
Good deeds, nor cause some grief by your
Words when you come present a gift.
16 Does not the dew assuage the rift
Of scorching heat? So a word’s found
Better than any gift in sound.
17 Indeed, does not a word surpass
A good gift? Both are in taste class
In gracious men, though few, alas.
18 A fool’s ungracious and abusive,
And the gift of a grudging man
Makes the eyes dim and tears effusive.
19 Before you speak, learn, if you can,
And before you fall ill, take care
Of your health. 20 Before judgment share,
Examine yourself, in the hour
Of visitation of God’s power
You will find forgiveness is there.
21 Before falling ill, humble self,
And when you are about the shelf
Of sinning, turn back from the elf.

So many times have so many men found
The temptation too hard to bear on ground
Of this world and its marsh reality!
A good word in good time sets a man free.
Before falling, humbling the self is just
The recognition that the self of dust
Is an illusion, and no other self
Exists but the one Self upon the shelf
That You lend to the consciousness of each
Who reaches toward the tree to take the peach.
Beloved, I too love peaches and they seem
More real sometimes than any idle dream
Of power in I-ness, so I humbly take
The way to righteousness and for Your sake.

22 Let nothing keep you from your vow
In its due time, and do not cow
Before death to be saved somehow.
23 Before making a vow, prepare
Yourself, and do not take the share
Of a man who tempts YHWH to glare.
24 Think of His wrath on day of death,
And of the moment and the breath
Of vengeance when He turns away
His face to go away and stay.
25 In time of plenty mind the time
Of hunger, in the days of lime
Think of poverty and need’s climb.
26 From morning to evening things change,
And all move swiftly in YHWH’s range.
27 A wise man is cautious in all,
And in his days of sin to call
He guards against wrongdoing’s shawl.

Kol nidrei need not be sung anytime,
Not on Yom Kippur nor in pleasant rhyme
By Mecca. I’ll just refrain from the share
Of making vows beyond the things You dare
To require of the human soul and mate:
The Decalogue set out by human gate.
I vow that I shall not do anything
In good and righteous act beyond the sting
Of ten words in the mouth of divine King
Upon the mount of Sinai. There’s the ping.
Beloved, now that I am bereft of all
Desire before the shredded, heavenly pall,
I find all vows return in a sweet song
Beyond the fasting and the supper gong.

28 Every intelligent man knows
Wisdom, and he praises the rows
Of those who find her. 29 Those who keep
The sayings become skilled to sweep,
And pour out fine proverbs and weep.
30 Do not follow your base desires,
But restrain your appetites’ fires.
31 If you allow your soul to take
Pleasure in base desire and stake,
It will make you the laughingstock
Of your foes on both sea and dock.

It may be well that every clever man
Knows wisdom and praises as praises can
Those who find her. But they are far between,
Those clever men, and few be to be seen.
Those who pour out their proverbs go from sight,
Forgotten by the multitude for right,
Simply because there’s no intelligent
Gent to praise them for all the words they sent.
Those who do not follow the base desire,
But restrain all the appetites conspire,
May not become the laughingstock indeed,
But surely will be left to go to seed.
I munch the seed in measure for each day
And so find for a time enough to pay.

32 Don’t revel in great luxury,
Lest you come into poverty.
33 Do not become a beggar by
Feasting with borrowed money’s sty,
When you have nothing in your purse,
And so avoid want and its curse.

The world is feasting still on money lent
And borrowed on the future before spent.
It is supposed to be a wisdom found
New and brave on the fertilized bare ground.
The featured new economy is bent,
But hope will always covet what is round.
The gardens of the kings in other days
Were decked with tribute from the conquered drays.
But now the banks of silver and of gold
Have turned to documents of favours told.
All see the wisdom of the past and note
The great abyss before the rushing boat,
And nod in solemn agreement to tote
The words of Ben Sirach in what he wrote.

SIRACH 19

1 A worker who’s a drunk will not
Earn wealth, but be put on the spot,
The one who’s not careful of small
Things in due time will fail and fall.
2 Wine and women lead wise men off
The right course, and the one to scoff
And go with harlots is a doff.
3 Decay and worms will his heirs,
Such reckless ones will hit the stairs.
4 The one who is too quick to trust
Has the intelligence of dust,
And one who sins will wrong himself.
5 One who rejoices like an elf
In wickedness will be condemned,
6 And for the one who has contemned
Gossip, evil’s put on the shelf.

Drink, drugs and devious women lead the way
Where evangelical preachers hold sway.
The one who stays on the right course today
Can never take the pulpit for his share
From those delivered from the evil snare.
One must have flashy witness of the wrong
He used to do to feed the hopeful throng
Waiting with hated breath to hear the news
Of what disgrace performed before the pews
Attracted him with din of clinking coin
And songs he liked before he came to join.
Beloved, I have no testimony here
Except that from my youth I would appear
To desire You beyond the joy and tear.

7 Never repeat a conversation,
And you’ll lose nothing of your ration.
8 With friend or foe do not report it,
And unless it would be to sort it
As sin for you, do not disclose it,
9 For some one’s heard you, watched and chose it,
And when the time comes he’ll hate you.
10 Do you have a message though true?
Let it die with you. Be brave! Thirst
To tell tales will not make you burst!
11 With such a word a fool will suffer
Pangs like a woman without buffer
In labour with a child and rougher.
12 Like an arrow stuck in the flesh
Of the thigh, a word will enmesh
Inside a fool. 13 Question a friend,
It may be he did not offend.
But if he did do anything,
Not to do it again for sting.
14 Question a neighbour, maybe he
Did not say it, but if he did,
So that he may put on the lid.
15 Question a guy, for often it
Is slander, do not come to sit
Believing everything you hear.
16 A man may even make a slip
Without intending any lip.
Who has never sinned with his tongue?
17 Question your neighbour what he’s sung
Before you threaten him, and let
The law of the Most High be set.

Believe the half of what you see, my dad
Told me with fervour against every cad,
And nought of what you hear, because the tongue
Distorts all things even when truth is sung.
Hearsay’s the plague of mind and neighbour’s peace,
And rumour of both good and ill must cease
Before the hope of life can once take root.
Better to make shoes and the polished boot
Than words. And yet, Beloved, I come to share
With You more words than any anywhere.
But I beg You do not believe, beware!
Take what You see, but on the strident air
Let my words be no more than temple bare
Where You may rest enthroned and without soot.

18 19 20 All wisdom is the fear of YHWH,
And in all wisdom there’s in view
Fulfilment of the law as true.
21 22 But the knowledge of wickedness
Is not wisdom, nor is there dress
Of prudence in iniquity.
23 There is a cleverness to see
Which is abominable, but there
Is a fool who merely lacks share.
24 Better the God-fearing man who
Lacks intelligence in his view,
Than the highly intelligent
Who transgresses the law’s intent.
25 There is a cleverness which is
Scrupulous but unjust in biz,
And there are people who distort
Kindness to gain a verdict’s fort.
26 There is a rascal bowed in mourning,
But inside deceitful, take warning.
27 He hides pretending not to hear,
But when nobody else is near,
He’ll sneak in and take all your gear.
28 And if by lack of strength he’s not
Able to sin, when chance he’s got
He will do evil and a lot.
29 A man’s known by what he looks like,
A sensible man’s face will strike
You as such when you meet in light.
30 The way a man dresses aright
And how he laughs freely and how
He carries himself by his act
Will reveal what he is in fact.

I plague myself that I may be one wise,
And for that goal I see I must despise
The fell of fashions everywhere I rise.
I plague myself instead to fear You while
The others only love You for Your smile.
Those who know Your grace and mercy in pile
Know that You punish none, but gaze away,
And wink at sin, and give the stars in pay.
I plague myself to obey what You say.
Beloved, the grant of what seems in the face
To be the hopeful star in loving trace
May well define the man and show his place.
Such knowledge helps to sell the barbecue,
The dishwasher, the car, the yacht with crew.

SIRACH 20

1 There’s a reproof which is not timely,
And there’s a man who keeps his crimely
Mouth shut but is not wise or rhymely.
2 Then how much better to reprove
Than to stay in an angry groove!
And the one who confesses wrong
Will be kept from loss all along.
3 4 Like a eunuch’s desire to grip
A maiden is a man to slip
In judgements by violent lip.
5 Some who keep their mouths shut are wise,
And others find others despise
Them since their chatters balladize.
6 Some shut up who’ve nothing to say,
Others knowing just when to stay.
7 A wise man waits till the right time,
A braggart and a fool in rhyme
Rattle on in a weary chime.
8 The long-winded man will be loathed,
(Unless he’s French), and one who’s clothed
Himself in someone else’s right
To speak will be hated for spite.

The times to speak and what to say are meant
To be the gauge of civilized present,
But hardly any man on earth knows how
To say the right word in a petty row.
And every woman born of mom and dad
Returns her lips on wicked tongue and sad.
I live in a land where silence is best
According to the lines the folk invest,
And song itself is known to be a sword
Before the fens and bogs of the adored.
And yet a thousand years of practice taught
None of the inmates when to open plot.
If silence reigns instead of the wrong word,
Then silence reigns when the right might have stirred.

9 An accident may bring a man
Good fortune despite every plan,
And in a time of loss may come
A windfall in generous sum.
10 There is a gift with no return,
And there’s one with double to earn.
11 There are losses because of glory,
And there are men whose own life story
Is rags to riches, nothing gory.
12 Some men buy much for small outlay,
And then suffers seven times to pay.
13 The wise man makes himself beloved
Through his words, but courtesies shoved
By fools are wasted. 14 A fool’s gift
Will profit you nothing but rift,
For he has many eyes to stay
Instead of one in the right way.
15 He gives little and upbraids much,
He opens his mouth at a touch
Like a herald, today he lends,
Tomorrow asks back what he sends,
Such a one is a hateful man.
16 A fool will say as if by plan,
“I have no friend, and there’s no thanks
For my good deeds or my good shanks,
Those who eat my bread come to speak
Unkindly of the things they seek.”

I am a fool indeed, for few friends make
There way to my table and come to break
The bread with me. My missionary wake
Knows scores who ate and afterward prevailed
To say an unkind word before they sailed.
That’s why I ask no boon or blessing when
I welcome now friend and foe to my den.
Let all see to their own devising of
The laws of good and evil and of love.
Whether I plan assemblies and the feast
Or don the coat of fasting with the least,
The truth is You alone know what is best,
And You will intervene when come the test.
I stand in wealth or poverty increased.

17 How many will make fun of him,
And how often they’ll hold him dim!
18 To stumble on the path is better
Than slip of tongue by a go-getter,
And so the sinner’s downfall comes
As quickly as he speaks his sums.
19 An ungracious man’s like a tale
Told at the wrong time, under sail
By unwise lips that long prevail.
20 A proverb from a fool’s lips finds
No reception in the rinds
Because he does not say the word
At the right time when it was spurred.
21 Poverty may keep some from sin,
So he can rest with a clear grin.
22 A man may lose his life through shame,
Or then his foolish look’s to blame.
23 A man for shame may promise aught
To a friend and without need taught
Make him an enemy unsought.

I’ve spent a lifetime watching what right word
Might be appropriate as things occurred.
That does not mean my temper at the sound
Of some injustice did not spoil my ground.
But for the most I’ve played the local part
Like Paul of Tarsus in the noble start
Of being each to each by course and heart.
I’ve finished with the diplomatic brood.
It has not produced either gains or food.
Instead my proverb runs to every man:
Just keep the Decalogue in hand and plan.
No other proverb’s needed where I sit,
No other wisdom comes to rival it.
The ten words solve all riddles that I scan.

24 A lie is a man’s ugly blot,
But always on lips as untaught.
25 A thief is better than a liar,
But the lot of both’s in the fire.
26 The lying spirit brings disgrace,
His shame’s always before his face.
27 He who speaks wisely will advance,
A sensible man will by prance
Please great men. 28 Whoever tills soil
Will gather in his harvest spoil,
And whoever pleases great men
Will atone for injustice’ den.
29 Presents and gifts blind the wise eyes,
Like muzzle on the mouth in guise
They avert reproofs of the wise.
30 Hidden wisdom and unseen treasure,
What benefit is in their measure?
31 Better’s the man who hides his folly
Than one who hides his wisdom’s trolley.

Say now, Beloved, as You review the writing
Of sonnet after sonnet where I’m smiting,
If there are any here that cover up
The folly of my heart and my false cup.
Say now, Beloved, as You hear what I say
To You in praise, petition and the lay
Of plaint and penitence, whether I hide
My wisdom or show it on every side.
If I show both to the elated crew,
That gives me fifty percent of the view.
If I hide both in querulous appeal,
Half of the project goes under the heel.
If I hide wrong and bring the right in sight,
Then I have praised the day and earned the night.

SIRACH 21

1 Have you sinned, my son? Do no more,
But pray about your sinful score.
2 Flee from sin as from serpent sore,
For if you open up sin’s door,
It will come to bite you. Its teeth
Are lion’s teeth, and sharp beneath
To destroy men’s souls in the wreath.
3 All lawlessness is like a sword
Two-edged, there is no healing cord
For its wound. 4 Terror’s violence
Will lay waste riches, so the tents
Of the proud will be laid waste hence.
5 The prayer of a poor man goes from
His lips to Ælohim’s ears’ sum,
And his judgement comes speedily.
6 Whoever hates reproof of spree
Walks in the sinner’s steps, but he
That fears YHWH repents in his heart.
7 He who is great in spoken art
Is famous everywhere to start,
But the man of sense, when he slips,
Is aware of it to the hips.
8 A man who builds his house with fund
Of other people’s moribund
To gather stones for his mound dunned.
9 A wicked assembly is like
Tow gathered for the match to strike.

Most people nowadays who want to build
A house for themselves ceiled and floored and silled
Go out to borrow money for the trick,
Instead of paying cash and paying slick.
Yet Ben Sirach is sure that’s a mistake,
A preparation for one’s own death wake.
It is a wicked gathering to him,
A binding of fools with their wits so dim
They must be lighted by their burning bright
In hell-fires raised upon the coming night.
Beloved, I once built on a stretch of wire
A hut of Spanish moss, and found the dire
Skink living there the next day, though I paid
No borrowed money at all for the shade.

10 The way of sinners is smoothly
Paved with stones, but its end to be
Is the pit of Hades in scree.
11 Whoever keeps the law controls
His thoughts, and wisdom that unfolds
The fear of YHWH. 12 He who is not
Intelligent cannot be taught,
But there is cleverness around
Increasing bitterness in pound.
13 The knowledge of a wise man will
Increase like a flood on the hill,
His counsel like a flowing spring.
14 The mind of a fool is a thing
Like a broken bottle to sing,
It will hold no understanding.
15 When a man of knowledge perceives
A wise saying, he’ll take its sleeves
And add to it with praise, but when
A reveller hears it in den,
He dislikes it and casts it out.
16 A fool’s tale’s like a burden stout
Upon a journey, but delight
Is found in clever speech and right.
17 The speaking of a man of sense
Will be sought in the people’s tents,
They’ll ponder his words in their minds.
18 Like a house vanished from the rinds,
So is wisdom heard by a fool,
And knowledge in talk without school.

I must be a wise man, Beloved, since I,
When I hear a good proverb on the sly
As I read in the book Ben Sirach wrote,
I take it by the sleeve and make it gloat.
I savour on my tongue the words and smell
The fragrance of the mighty, magic spell,
And then I add my bit in sonnet’s care
To comment on Your wisdom from the air.
Though I am wise, Beloved, a man of sense
I am not, since no people recompense
My mutterings and complaints with the sound
Of contemplation on the dewy ground.
And still I spread my clever speech around,
And squelch my own occasion of pretence.

19 A senseless man finds education
As fetters on his feet in ration,
And manacles on his right hand.
20 A fool raises his voice to stand
When he laughs, but a clever man
Smiles quietly. 21 But to a man
Of sense education is like
A golden ornament on spike,
And like a bracelet on the right.
22 The foot of a fool rushes right
Into a house, but a man who
Has much experience in view
Stands in respect before the due.
23 A boor peers in the house beside
The door, but cultured men abide
Without. 24 Ill manners make a man
Listen at the door to each plan,
But a discreet man’s grieved to scan.
25 The lips of strangers speak these things,
But prudent words take measured wings.
26 The mind of fools is in their lips,
But the mouth of a wise man slips
Within his mind. 27 When wicked men
Curse their foes, they curse once again
Their own souls. 28 A gossip defiles
His own soul hated round for miles.

I must be senseless, my Beloved, since I
Find education manacles to fry
My right hand in the panned and fatty ply.
A title from the school, even the best,
Just gives the populace reason to jest
And throw out jeers upon the fatal ears
That listened to the teaching years and years.
Obesity can be reduced in time
By eating less and exercise in crime,
But once the sheepskin’s written with a name,
One’s caught forever with that awful shame.
Beloved, though I have titles and degrees,
I only turn to You and hope to please
With my confession of Your divine breeze.

SIRACH 22

1 A sloth is like a dirty stone,
Everyone boos at him alone.
2 A lazy man is like the pile
Of dung, anyone who’ll defile
His hands with it will shake it off.
3 It’s a disgrace and many scoff
At the father of a son who
Is without discipline to do,
And such a daughter’s a loss too.
4 A sensible daughter obtains
Her husband, but one who remains
In shame brings grief to her own dad.
5 An impudent daughter makes sad
Both father and husband, each cad
Will despise here along with them.
6 Like music at a funeral
Is a tale told outside corral,
But chastening and discipline
Are always wise and never sin.

I leave the tale of sons and daughters to
The men and women who know that they’re true.
Instead I mind the tale that’s told in view
When it is not appropriate to spue.
Myself, I must be some fool, for my rate,
I love a tale, no matter what the state,
And dote on fiction as well as the mate
Of science that I daily take on plate.
I read the dictionary and the book
Of every encyclopaedia and look
For poetry and prose until my share
Of red eye and the burning brow of care
Forces me to the woods to chat a spell
With birds that do not wait and cones that fell.

7 The one who teaches a fool’s like
One who glues potsherds with a spike,
Or wakes up a man from deep sleep.
8 He who tells a parable deep
To a fool tells it to a man
Who’s sleepy and at end of span
He’ll ask, “What does it mean by plan?”
9 10 11 Weep for the dead, for he lacks light,
And weep for the fool, for his bright
Lack of intelligence, but weep
Less for the dead, for he shall keep
His rest, but the life of a fool
Is worse than death and that’s a rule.
12 Mourning for the dead lasts seven days,
But for a fool or wonder-maze
It lasts a lifetime in his craze.
13 Do not talk much with foolish men,
Don’t visit a fool in his den,
Guard yourself from him to escape
Trouble, and you’ll not have to scrape
The mud off when he shakes himself.
Avoid him and rest on your shelf,
And you will not be wearied by
His madness when he comes to try.

I have taught fools in my day and I know
The dirge that goes repentantly and slow.
Beloved, keep me from classrooms and from men
Who graduate to habitate the den
Of every house and block of flats from here
To Kamchatka, or if You are sincere,
From Baffin’s Island to the land of fire,
With special focus on state of empire
And the lone star that glitters from its weir.
Beloved, I still weep for the madness found
Around me in the sky and on the ground,
And in my fevered way or in calm sound,
I flee from such stupidity and bound
To find You speaking Sinai’s sense and pound.

14 What’s heavier than lead? And what
Is its name except fool or slut?
15 Sand, salt, and cast-iron of a piece
Are easier to bear in lease
Than a stupid man on increase.
16 A wooden beam when firmly set
In a building will not be threat
In time of earthquake, so the mind
Firmly fixed on reason inclined
Will not fear in a crisis’ bind.
17 A mind settled on a good thought
Is like the plaster that is wrought
On the wall of a colonnade.
18 Fences set on a hill’s parade
Will not stand up against winds laid,
So a heart timid of a fool
Will not stand before fearful tool.
19 A man who pricks an eye will make
Tears fall, and one who pricks the wake
Of a heart makes it show the stake
Of feeling. 20 One who throws a stone
At birds scares them away, the drone
Who reviles a friend will break off
The friendship without philosophe.

That’s why, Beloved, my house is just not set
Upon the top of the hill where I’ve met
The dawn of recognition in the sky,
The morning of Your glory passing by.
Instead I sit below the fir and pine
And drink Your nectar and in pleasure dine.
And even so, Beloved, I’ve frightened bird,
Though not with stones I throw, but they have heard
Me tramping through the brush or at a turn
Scrape with my feet the leaves they cannot burn.
Beloved, I know of houses on the hill,
I know the windswept country and its fill,
But I sit here to contemplate Your coming
Down to meet me where I cantillate humming.

21 Even if you have drawn your sword
Against a friend, despair no lord,
For friendship can be well renewed.
22 If you have opened your mouth crude
Against your friend, don’t worry, for
Your reconciliation’s score,
But for reviling, arrogance,
Repeating secrets or the glance
Of treachery, in such a case
Any friend will flee from the race.
23 Gain the trust of your neighbour when
He’s poor, so you’ll rejoice again
With him in his prosperity,
Be true in affliction’s degree,
So you may share inheritance.
24 The vapour and smoke of furnace
Precede the fire, so insults’ pace
Precedes bloodshed. 25 I will not be
Ashamed to protect a friend’s fee,
And I will not hide from his plea,
26 But if some harm should come to me
Because of him, whoever hears
Of it will beware of his tears.
27 Oh that a guard were set upon
My mouth, a seal of prudence drawn
Over my lips, that it might keep
Me from falling into the steep,
So my tongue might not destroy me!

Not true, Beloved, I think that friends appear
To forgive drawn sword and the chopped off ear,
Even when it is healed by hand sent down
From you in messianic voice in town!
Not true, Beloved, I think that friends relate
To any sudden word against their gate.
The friend is like the bird in bush, I find
I must tame such or else be lone resigned!
Beloved, I’ve set the guard upon my lips,
And yet as soon as I return with skips
To Your word, I find all my vows are broken,
And I revile You with a witty token.
The words are proven true, You’re such a friend
That has not yet struck down my bow and bend.

SIRACH 23

1 Lord, Father, Ruler of my life,
Do not abandon me to strife,
Let me not fall because of them!
2 O that whips were set on the hem
Of my thoughts, and the discipline
Of wisdom over my mind’s bin!
That they may not spare me in my
Mistakes, and not pass my sins by,
3 So that my errors might not be
Multiplied, and my sins’ degree
Might not abound, then I’ll not fall
Before my adversaries’ wall,
And my foe not rejoice on me.
4 Lord, Father and God of my life,
Do not give me proud eyes like knife,
5 And take from me evil desire.
6 Let neither gluttony nor fire
Of lust overcome me, and do
Not ever abandon me to
A shameless self. 7 Listen, children,
To my instruction and my pen
About speaking, the one who takes
Cognizance will not fall in shakes.

The prayer of the wise is instruction taught
To his own children, those whose ears he sought.
Few find their children’s ears are so inclined,
Which suggests that children are deaf and blind,
Or that parents are not as wise in due
As Ben Sirach appears to be in view.
The prayer of the wise in instruction’s met
By me, also, Beloved, where I am set
Against the taunting of the windy world
And blasphemy of ignorance uncurled.
Beloved, I’ve given up both greed and power,
And so I join this prayer of holy hour
To be stripped of lust in my gluttony,
And so from all good things I am set free.

8 The sinner is caught through his lips,
Reviler, the arrogant trips.
9 Don’t accustom your mouth to oaths,
And make no habit in your clothes
To utter name of Holy One,
10 For as a servant who’s condemned
To torture to find out unstemmed
What he has done will not lack bruises,
So also the man who oft cruises
To swear and utter the Name will
Not be cleansed from sin’s staining spill.
11 A man who swears many oaths will
Be filled with iniquity, and
The scourge will not leave house and land,
If he offends, his sin remains
Upon him, and if he maintains
His disregard, he doubles sin,
What he has sworn needlessly in,
He will never be justified,
For his house will be filled inside
Where its calamities reside.
12 There is an utterance that is
To be compared to death’s clutches,
And may the thing never be found
In Jacob’s portion of the ground!
For all these errors will be far
From godly in particular,
And they will not wallow in sins.
13 Do not accustom your mouth’s bins
To lewd vulgarity, for it
Entails sinful speech and unfit.

The good advice of Jesus Ben Sirach
Is that one should not vow and swear alack.
Few do today in Western cities now,
Because the rhetoric of high-toned brow
Is advertising language and not sense
To appeal to Your name when tax relents.
The good advice may still be heard with power
In Middle Eastern country, town and tower,
Where those who lift a load with Ya Allah
Are surpassed by the goad of those in awe
Rather of Muhammad or Ya Ali.
Beloved, I certainly am not set free
From recitation of Your name where I
Whirl on the dergah floor before I die.

14 Remember your father and mother
When you sit with great and another,
Lest you forget yourself in their
Presence, and be deemed a fool rare
For your behaviour, then you’ll wish
That you had never seen the dish,
And you will curse your day of birth.
15 A man using insulting words
Will never all his days be worth
For discipline among the birds.
16 Two sorts of men multiply sin,
And a third incurs wrath within.
The soul heated like burning fire
Will not be quenched of its desire
Until it is consumed, a man
Committing fornication’s flan
With his near of kin never ceases
Until consuming fire increases.
17 All bread tastes sweet to such a tongue
Who fornicates, his song is sung
Until he dies. 18 A man who breaks
His marriage vows says for his stakes,
“Who sees me? Darkness surrounds me,
And the walls hide me, none will see.
Why should I fear? The Most High will
Not take notice of my sins’ fill.”
19 His fear is confined to the eyes
Of men, he does not realize
That YHWH’s eyes are ten thousand times
Brighter than the sun, they see crimes
In all the ways of men, perceive
Even the hidden places’ eave.

Ben Sirach knows that taste acquired in fields
Played by the playboy soon and ever yields
The incapacity to stay aground,
But every bread is tasty in its round.
It’s not the eye divine that looks in wrath
Upon the infidelities and path
Of darkness, but the very body shown
Such ways learns in its own sorrows to groan.
Your eyes may well see all that I have done
Because they are brighter than sharpened sun,
But my own heart and hand lead in the skill
Of planting the regret of tasteless fill.
I do not hide from You, Beloved, but stand
Away from the bleak shadows I have planned.

20 Before the universe was made,
It was known to Him, and it stayed
Also after the thing was done.
21 This man will be punished in sun
In the streets of the city, and
Where he least suspects it, the band
Will seize him also. 22 So it is
With a woman who leaves whom is
Her husband and provides an heir
By a stranger. 23 For first of all,
She has disobeyed the law’s share
Of the Most High, second of all,
She’s done her husband an offence,
And thirdly, she’s through harlotry
Committed an adultery
And borne another man’s offspring.
24 She herself will be brought to sing
Before the assembly, and sting
Will fall upon her children too.
25 Her children will not take root due,
And her branches will not bear fruit.
26 She’ll leave her memory to boot
For a curse, and her disgrace will
Not be blotted out of the ill.
27 Those who survive her come to know
That nothing’s better than the glow
And fear of YHWH, nothing is sweeter
Than to heed the commandments meter
Of YHWH in every place you go.

Ben Sirach knows Your eyes that stroked the plain
Of all eternity have seen the gain
And loss of every man and woman here
Who bow to lust to find the path of fear.
He does not ask, as do the modern men,
How we can be responsible when ken
Of doings was eternally revealed
To You before we stepped into the field.
Instead he goes directly to the point:
Adultery is sordid in this joint.
Beloved, I care not either if Your eyes
Have followed me before the great sunrise
Of earth’s appearance, I care only that
I would live in Your law and on Your mat.

SIRACH 24

1 Now Wisdom praises herself, and
She glories in her people’s band.
2 In the assembly of Most High
She’ll open her mouth, and rely
On His host’s glory by and by.
3 “I came from the mouth of Most High,
And covered the earth like a mist.
4 “I lived in high places, my throne
Was in a pillar of cloud kissed.
5 “I have made the circuit alone
Of the sky’s dome and walked down in
The depths of the abyss to win.
6 “In the waves of the sea, in all
The earth, and in every folk’s call
And every nation I have got
A possession and comely plot.
7 Among these I sought resting place,
Where I might lodge diminished pace.

The Epicurean and Stoic rate
Does not outflank my own Platonic mate.
Before I learned to think, I learned to read
The pods of Aristotle gone to seed.
The tongues of sun and star beyond the moon
Rave in the night and at the foregone noon,
And even the sea’s depth I grope in turn
To find at last the things I want to learn.
Beloved, a pilgrim I have spent an age
Before the dusty and the ink-fresh page,
And still I find no word in tune to beat
The rhythm of Your Decalogue in heat.
If there is resting place upon the earth,
The blistered coast of Sinai takes the berth.

8 “Then the Creator of all things
Gave me commandment without strings,
And the one who created me
Assigned a place for my tent tree.
And he said, ‘Make your dwelling place
In Jacob, and in Israel’s race
Receive your inheritance’ grace.’
9 “From all eternity, in start,
He created me for His part,
And for eternity I’ll not
Cease to exist or fail to trot.
10 “In holy tabernacle I
Ministered before him to fly,
In Zion was I set to be.
11 “Likewise in the beloved city
He gave me a resting place, and
In Jerusalem was my stand.
12 “So I took root by honoured folk,
In the portion of YHWH a stroke,
He is their inheritance’ grand.
13 “I grew tall like a cedar in
Lebanon, and a cypress thin
On the heights of Hermon’s fair land.

I found a place to sleep in the old town
Jerusalem beneath a blue sky’s frown,
And paid my way among the arching halls
To the niche where Palestinian calls.
The Swedish hostel gave a better rate
Than any other, though the bedroom gate
Was tight for any of obesity.
My staying there is proof of being free
Of excess fat, but friendly faces there
Were worth more than the luxury of care.
Beloved, I come to Israel’s state and find
Myself secure in Ahmed’s veined and vined,
Ready to find the temple mount and pray
Within the mosque for peace another day.

14 “I grew tall like a palm tree in
En-gedi, and like rose plants in
Jericho, like an olive tree
Flourishing in the field and free,
And like a plane tree I grew tall.
15 “Like cassia and camel’s thorn all
I gave forth aroma to thrall,
And like choice myrrh spread pleasant scent,
Like galbanum, onycha rent,
And stacte, and like the fragrance of
Tent’s frankincense in clouds above.
16 “Like terebinth I spread out my
Branches, and my branches defy
All glory and all grace to vie.
17 “Like a vine I caused loveliness
To bud, and my blossoms’ address
Grew glorious, abundant fruit.
18 19 “Come to me, you who desire suit,
And eat your fill of my produce.
20 “For the remembrance of my use
Is sweeter than honey, and my
Inheritance sweeter thereby
Than honeycomb. 21 “Those who eat me
Will hunger for more, and the fee
Of those who drink me thirst freely.
22 “Whoever obeys me will not
Be put to shame, and those who sought
Work with my help no sin are taught.”

If wisdom is so fragile on the air
That she is like the fragrance on the stair
Of En-gedi, I might think her to be
Ephemeral as sunset on the lea.
And yet the words writ fast so long ago
Are still true in the temple of the show:
The blossoms still shed light beneath the cliff,
And scents still flame about the tall and stiff
Palms that remember everything the proud
And humble sang above the shore and loud.
Remembrance of the place is still as sweet
As honey, and the breakfast is a treat.
One night in En-gedi in darkness wrapt
Remains forever nectar’s scent uncapped.

The fashing mind of Christ loved to read all
He might find in the scroll of law and pall
And stash away a word to contradict
With paradoxes charmed, chosen and picked.
If wisdom is so fine that everyone
Who tastes it must hunger and thirst when done
To have again the blessèd share, then he
Will offer drinks at wells of infamy.
The water that makes never thirst again
Is not a thing for mortal, fleshly men,
Despite the fact a woman at the well
Hopes not to have to come to cast a spell
Each day with pail and pitcher from the font.
The thirstings and the hungerings are gaunt.

23 All this is book of covenant
Of the Most High Ælohim sent,
The law which Moses commanded
Us as an inheritance fed,
For Jacob’s congregations led.
24 25 It fills men with wisdom indeed,
Like the Pishon, and like the freed
Tigris at the time of first fruits.
26 It makes them full of understanding,
Like the Euphrates, and the landing
Of Jordan at the harvest time.
27 It makes instruction like light shine,
Like the Gihon at vintage time.
28 Just as the first man did not know
Her perfectly, the last one’s show
Cannot fathom her in her row,
29 For her thought’s more abundant than
The sea, and her counsel will span
Deeper than the great abyss can.
30 I went out like a canal from
A river and like water’s sum
Into a garden. 31 I said, “I
Will water my orchard and try
To drench my garden plot”, and see,
My stream became a river’s cry,
And my river became a sea.
32 I will again make instruction
Shine forth like the dawn, and from dun
I’ll make it shine afar when won,
33 I’ll pour out my Torah again
Like prophecy left to all men.
34 See how I labour not alone
For myself but for all who groan
For my instruction and my tone.

Torah of wisdom comes to follow me
And swell my puddles to make up a sea
Of blessing and of glory on the scope
Of my own hillside where I live in hope.
Torah of wisdom is itself the sound
Of breakers on the rocks that pound and pound,
Until the earth seem flat instead of round
Caught on the castings of eternity.
Beloved, I’ve seen the waters that in slight
And sweetened channels burst after the night
Along the courses of the green and bright
Of Ali’s gardens where Medina sits.
The date-palms raise their fronds, the shadow fits
The pools of rushing waters in the light.

SIRACH 25

1 My soul takes pleasure in three things,
And they are beautiful as springs
In the sight of YHWH and of men:
Brothers’ harmony in their den,
Friendship between neighbours to spring,
And spouses without quarrelling.
2 My soul hates three kinds of men too,
And I’m offended at their view:
A beggar who is proud, a rich
Man who’s a liar, and the breech
Of an old adulterer who
Does not have good sense in his pew.

Five categories I can understand,
But the sixth goes beyond my outstretched hand.
Confucius-like, I admire brothers who
Remember their own place in kinship’s crew,
And neighbours who mind how they ought to treat
Each other with or without heaven’s feat,
While spouses who live without quarrel’s lot
Seem far-fetched, still I understand the plot.
I also understand that lying is
A thing unwanted in both life and biz,
And that adultery’s a stupid way
To live the single life one has to pay.
But that a beggar must not be proud I
Do not accept, no, not for earth or sky.

3 You’ve gathered nothing in your youth,
How then find your old age forsooth?
4 How fine’s judgement in grey-haired men,
And for the old good sense again!
5 How fine is wisdom in the old,
And understanding’s counsel bold!
6 A wealth of experience is crown
To the aged, they boast no frown
Before YHWH whom they fear in town.
7 With nine thoughts I’ve gladdened my heart,
And with a tenth I’ll tell my part:
A man rejoicing in his spawn,
A man who lives to see down drawn
His enemies, 8 and happy he
Whose wife knows to act cleverly,
And who has not slipped with his tongue,
Nor served a fool when he was young;
9 Happy if he’s kept his good sense,
And people listen to his vents.
10 How great is he who’s gained wisdom!
But there is no superior bum
To him who fears YHWH. 11 Fear of YHWH
Surpasses everything in view,
And who’s to compare with the cat
Who holds it fast and outright flat?

I have been young and though I still feel young,
My years begin to mount up, while my tongue
Has not yet learned the wisdom of the store
Of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes’ door.
I lack the wisdom that grey hair should show,
I lack the understanding of the row
Of practices and customs that relate
To buying and to selling in the state.
But while I fail to give respect thought due
To CEO and president in view,
And take each man for good or ill to spew,
I in my lack still hope that I fear You.
Yet by accounts I truly fear men more,
Knowing that they reject Your law for gore.

12 13 Any wound, but not wound of heart!
Any wickedness, but not start
Of wickedness on a wife’s part!
14 Any attack, but no attack
From those who hate! And any rack
Of vengeance, but not vengeance of
The enemies who come to shove!
15 There is no venom worse than that
Of a snake, and no wrath that sat
Worse than the anger of a brat.
16 I’d rather live with lion and dragon
Than with a wife evil and bragging.
17 The wickedness of a wife makes
Her beauty fail before its shakes,
And darkens her face like a bear.
18 Her husband takes his meals in share
Among the neighbours, he cannot
Help sighing bitterly once caught.

I have a neighbour whose wife is adept
At cooking with the fat after she slept.
And the man too is good to bake the rare
And cut a slice as thick as anywhere.
My own table is tasty to my tongue,
Though simple in the ways and maze of sung,
With little of great cost, and much in fare
Caught from the wayside lake and meadow bare.
Beloved, I still prefer the modest rate
Of all the victuals in my life I ate
To dainties trucked in bestial fat and butter
Where jowls will tremble and the stomach mutter.
That’s why I still take all my meals at home,
And leave the neighbour to the fancy loam.

19 Any iniquity is naught
Compared to a wife’s sinful plot,
And may she fall into the lot
Of sinners for the things she’s got.
20 A sandy hill for aged feet,
Such is a wife with chatter’s beat
For a husband’s quiet retreat.
21 Don’t be seduced by woman’s beauty,
Do not desire her for her booty.
22 There is both wrath and impudence
And great disgrace when in her tents
A wife supports her husband’s bents.
23 A mind dejected, gloomy face,
And wounded heart are all the trace
Of a wife of iniquity
Bent on spoiling all she can see.
Drooping hands and weak knees appear
Before a wife who does not gear
To make her husband happy here.
24 From a woman sin had its start,
And because of her we depart.
25 Don’t let a water vessel leak,
Nor wicked wives begin to speak.
26 If she does not do as you say,
Divorce her and go on your way.

Beloved, let us just draw a curtain on
This tirade of male chauvinist that’s drawn
Before my wondering eyes that take offence
At the thought that a woman in her vents
Is any worse than man without good sense.
Truth is all creatures with breath are defiled
Unless they adhere to Decalogue styled
And leave the law of jungle and the wild.
Beloved, I do not claim that Your estate
As Father and as Lover at the gate
Implies You have a tool hidden to wait
Beneath Your breeches to make soul elate.
It’s not the genitals that even score,
But keeping of Your law and nothing more.

SIRACH 26

1 Happy’s the man with a good wife,
His years will double without strife.
2 A loyal wife’s joy to a man,
He’ll die in peace without a plan.
3 A good wife is a blessing true
She’ll be counted among the few
Blessings of the one who fears YHWH.
4 Whether rich or poor, his heart’s glad,
And at all times his face not sad.
5 Of three things my heart is afraid,
And of a fourth my fear is paid:
The slander of a city made,
The gathering of a rabble laid,
And accusation false arrayed,
All these are worse than death’s parade.
6 There’s grief of heart and sorrow when
A wife is envious in her den
Of a rival, and so her tongue
Makes it known to all from her lung.

When Ben Sirach can take his mind away
From foibles of the female sex and play,
He has a word of wisdom here to say:
The process of a revolution stands
Against all human hopes in contrabands.
The first thing is the slander set abroad
To demonize a city for its fraud
Or country as it lies beneath Your eye.
When hearts are sure pre-emptive fight is needed,
Then rabbles raised by flouted feeling heeded
Produce desired effect. The city falls,
And then the accusations from the walls
In lies extend beyond the kings and courts
To where the people gather for their sports.

7 An evil wife’s an ox yoke which
Rubs on the shoulder with sore pitch.
She’s like a scorpion in the hand.
8 There’s great wrath when a wife will stand
In drunkenness, for she will not
Cover her shameful honey-pot.
9 The harlotry of a wife shows
In lustful eyes, a lid that glows.
10 Keep strict watch over headstrong daughter,
Lest she, when free, go to her slaughter.
11 Watch out for impudence of eye,
Don’t wonder when her sins reply.
12 Like thirsty traveller opens mouth
And drinks water from north or south,
So she will sit before the post
Of any chiel and open host
Of quiver to his arrow’s boast.
13 A wife’s charm delights her husband,
And her skill puts fat on his spanned.
14 A silent wife’s a gift of YHWH,
Naught is so precious in the view
As a soul disciplined in pew.

I do believe the word of Jesus Ben
When he says drunken women among men
Are plague and sore on any town or den.
I cry You, my Beloved, to set a flail
On those who make the liquor that’s for sale,
And those who sell the stuff, and those who drink
And bring the world up to destruction’s brink.
I do believe the word of Sirach when
He gives no praise to drunken women’s men,
Who rack the wealth and song from den to den
And touch the world with brass instead of gold.
I cast my judgement on the brazen bold
And lift the cry of the oppressed once told
Before Your throne and beg You not stand cold.

15 A modest wife adds charm to charm,
No scales can weigh a chaste soul’s arm.
16 Like sun coming up in YHWH’s sky,
So is the beauty by and by
Of a good wife in ordered sty.
17 Like shining lamp on holy stand,
So is a fine face on the brand
Of a fine figure on the land.
18 Like pillars of gold on a base
Of silver, so beautifully trace
The feet with steadfast heart in place.
19-28 At two things my heart’s greatly grieved,
And with a third wrath’s unreprieved,
A soldier stuck in poverty,
A wise man seen contemptuously,
And one who turns from righteousness
To sin. Let YHWH prepare address
Of sword to cut him down for less.
29 A merchant can hardly be kept
From doing wrong, a tradesman swept
Into sin will not be proclaimed
Innocent of for which he’s blamed.

I am amazed that anyone who takes
The pen to write down wisdom for the sakes
Of people and of God should show such stakes.
He praises soldiers and hopes every one
Who survives blast of cannon and of gun
Who be hale and whole, happy with the fun.
You once said not to kill, I’d think the host
That did so had no place for hope or boast.
And then You let the man cast blame on all
Who sell their wares in peace in market stall,
And make assumptions of their hidden sin,
Instead of criticizing battle’s din.
Beloved, trade is a better way to live
Than in the warmonger’s unbroken sieve

SIRACH 27

1 Many sin for a trifle’s gain,
But one who would get rich in vain
Will turn away his eyes for shame.
2 As a stake’s driven firm and game
In a crack between two stones, so
Is sin caught between come and go
Of commerce. 3 If a man is not
Steadfast and zealous in the lot
Of YHWH, his house soon falls on spot.
4 When a sieve’s shaken, the sticks stay,
So a man’s filth stays in his way.
5 The kiln proves potter’s pots, and so
The test of a man’s in the show
Of how his reasoning will go.
6 The fruit reveals the sort of tree,
So thought expressed shows what’s to be
Of a man’s mind’s iniquity.
7 Do not praise a man before you
Hear him reason, for this is true,
The test of men for what they do.

When Jesus by Matthew’s account would say
That a tree is known by its fruit in sway,
He was just quoting his namesake one day.
That does not mean that what he says is wrong,
In fact I sort of like the cherished song,
And figure following it gets along.
But here the test is not good deeds or bad,
As Christian false expositor has had,
But reasoning, that A is not both B
And not-B on the ebb and flow of sea.
Beloved, this day is like Bunyan’s again,
When seven coxcombs came out of their den
And turned a reason or not on its end.
Since Schopenhauer, irrational’s our friend.

8 If you pursue justice, you’ll get
It and wear it as a robe set.
9 Birds flock with their kind, and so truth
Returns to those who practice ruth.
10 A lion lies in wait for prey,
So does sin for the sinner’s way.
11 The speech of godly man is wise,
But fools change like the moon in guise.
12 When among stupid people, watch
For a chance to leave and not botch,
But among thoughtful people stay.
13 The speech of fools’ offensive way
Is to laugh in wanton array.
14 The talk of men who swear a lot
Makes one’s hair stand on end and trot,
Their quarrels make one stop his ears
And run away from all their gears.

When Peter said the devil stood to catch
From ambush everyone who’s not his match,
He quoted from Jesus Ben Sirach’s hatch.
Although he did not give the reference,
Nor get permission written for offence,
The word may still be true then as in past
Time when the sharp and sure temptation’s cast.
The trick’s to find a flock behind the mast.
So when the devil jumps out from the breast
Or from the thicket burning in the west,
The flock will all run in a single turn
In the same way You teach them and they learn.
But everywhere I turn I see the flock
Is one that listens to both pop and rock.

15 The strife of the proud leads to blood,
And their abuse like hearing mud.
16 The one who tells secrets destroys
His confidence, and in such ploys
He’ll never find a friend with poise.
17 Love your friend and keep faith with him,
But if you betray secrets dim,
Then do not follow after him.
18 For as a man destroys his foe,
So you’ve at last destroyed the show
Of friendship ín your neighbour’s row.
19 And as you let a bird escape
From your hand, so you’ve let the nape
Of your neighbour go, and you’ll not
Catch him again with any plot.
20 Do not chase after him, for he
Has too far gone, and fled to be
Like a gazelle from a snare free.
21 A wound may be bandaged, abuse
Finds reconciliation’s use,
But whoever’s repeated what
Was secret is from all hope shut.

I wonder who told Sirach’s secrets wild,
And what they were, since his reaction’s styled
To the extreme, when it could have been mild.
Vindictive I do say he seems to me:
It was not he the Master in his plea
Meant when he said that seven times seventy
Is how often a brother should offend
And how often one might forgive a friend.
Beloved, I’ve told Your secrets far and wide
To every hawk and sparrow on my side,
And still I find You faithful as a guide.
Beloved, Your secrets are not safe to be
Spoken in my hermetic company:
I send them out upon the winds to ride.

22 The one who winks his eye plans deeds
Of wickedness, and such one heeds
The good advice of no man’s creeds.
23 In your presence his mouth is sweet,
And he admires your words in feat,
But later he will twist his speech
And with your own words over-reach.
24 I’ve hated many things, but none
To be compared under the sun
To him, even YHWH will hate him.

The sweet Christian tells me that love is all
There is to make go round this feeble ball
Beneath the feet of thunder and the pall
Of faith and hope struck up against the wall.
The sweet Christian says You, Beloved, love each
As though he were a succulent red peach,
When Jesus Ben Sirach knows how to preach
That there is one at least You came to teach
Your hate and only hate within his reach.
Beloved, I too have met this common kind,
Though I thank You that such are in the bind
Of vast minority before the rind.
Let every hated one fall in the press
Till only You remain and Self confess.

25 Whoever throws a stone straight up
Throws it on his own head and cup,
A treacherous blow opens wounds.
26 He who digs a pit in the boonds
Will fall into it, and he who
Sets a snare will be caught in rue.
27 If a man does evil, it will
Fall back on him, and so he will
Not know where it came from for bill.
28 But mockery and abuse come
From the proud man, but vengeance’ sum
Will ambush him by lion’s tum.
29 Those who rejoice in the fall of
The godly will be caught in shove,
And pain will consume them before
Their death has time to find their door.
30 Anger and wrath, these also are
Abominations, and the car
Of sinners is filled with such tar.

If hate is both acceptable to You,
Beloved, and to Sirach beneath Your view,
I do not understand how wrath can be
The proof of wickedness’ iniquity.
It seems from my perspective that the one
Implies the other at some times of sun,
If not at all. It’s just how things are done.
Perhaps You mean that anger should be set
Aside before the joy that’s ever met
When the ungodly fail and fall to get
Foot crushed in traps of steel before the bet.
If that is so, I am remiss, for I
Join in the heathen crowd to sing and sigh
The dirge of plaint for what falls from the sky.

AUTHOR: THOMAS G. MCELWAIN

Copyright © 2007 Adams & McElwain Publishers and Thomas McElwain First Published in two volumes, The Beloved and I 2005, and Led of the Beloved, 2006. Second Edition, 2010 Third and revised edition, 2012 All rights reserved. No part of this verse commentary on the sacred Scriptures may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in a retrieval system, in any form or by any means, without permission in writing from publisher.

To purchase the books, please go to:

http://www.lulu.com/shop/thomas-mcelwain/the-beloved-and-i-genesis-to-maccabees/paperback/product-20136835.html

http://www.lulu.com/shop/thomas-mcelwain/the-beloved-and-i-job-to-revelation/paperback/product-20050862.html