Sirak 13

¹Zifte dokunan kirlenir ve kibirliyle ortaklık kuran da onunla aynı biçimi alıp ona benzer.

²Gücünü aşan yükü kaldırma; senden daha güçlü ve daha zengin olanla ortaklık etme. Toprak çömlekle bakır kazan nasıl ortak olur? Çömlek kazana çarpacak ve parçalanacaktır.

³Zengin haksızlık eder, bir de üstelik burnundan soluyup gürler; yoksul ise haksızlığa uğrar, bir de üstelik yalvarmak zorunda kalır.

⁴Yararlı olduğun sürece senin üzerinde çalışıp seni kullanır; muhtaç duruma düştüğünde ise seni terk eder.

⁵Varlığın varsa seninle birlikte yaşar, seni tamamen boşaltıp sömürür de kendisinin hiç canı yanmaz.

⁶Sana ihtiyacı olduğunda seni aldatır, yüzüne güler, sana ümit verir; seninle güzel güzel konuşup, "İhtiyacın nedir?" diye sorar.

⁷Seni kendi yemekleriyle utandırır, ta ki seni iki üç kez tamamen boşaltana kadar; en sonunda da seninle alay eder. Daha sonra seni gördüğünde yanından geçer, seni terk eder ve sana bakıp başını sallar.

⁸Dikkat et, aldanıp da kendi akılsızlığın yüzünden alçaltılmayasın.

⁹Nüfuzlu biri seni çağırdığında mesafeli durup geri çekil; o zaman seni daha da çok çağıracaktır.

¹⁰Kendini öne atıp içeri fırlama ki geri itilmeyesin; çok da uzak durma ki unutulmayasın.

¹¹Onunla eşit konuşma hakkına sahipmiş gibi davranmaya yeltenme, onun çok sözüne de güvenme; çünkü o seni çok konuşarak sınayacak ve gülümser gibi yaparak seni sorgulayacaktır.

¹²Sözleri muhafaza etmeyip sır tutmayan kişi acımasızdır; sana zarar vermekten ve seni zincire vurmaktan asla kaçınmaz.

¹³Kendini koru ve çok dikkatli ol, çünkü sen kendi yıkımınla birlikte yürümektesin. [Uykunda bunları duyduğunda uyanık ol; ömrün boyunca Rab'bi sev ve kurtuluşun için O'na yakar.]

¹⁵Her canlı kendi benzerini sever, her insan da kendi yakınını.

¹⁶Her beden kendi soyuna göre bir araya gelir ve insan kendi benzerine bağlanır.

¹⁷Kurtla kuzunun ne ortaklığı olabilir? Günahkarla dindar kişinin ortaklığı da böyledir.

¹⁸Sırtlanla köpeğin ne barışı olabilir? Zenginle yoksulun ne barışı olabilir?

¹⁹Yaban eşekleri çölde aslanların avıdır; yoksullar da zenginlerin otlaklarıdır.

²⁰Kibirli olan için alçakgönüllülük nasıl bir iğrençlikse, zengin için de yoksul öyle bir iğrençliktir.

²¹Zengin sarsılınca dostları ona destek olur; yoksul düşmeye görsün, dostları tarafından daha da uzağa itilir.

²²Zengin tökezleyince yardımcıları çok olur; söylenmeyecek gizli sözler söyler, yine de onu haklı çıkarırlar. Yoksul tökezleyince onu azarlarlar; bilgece konuşsa bile ona yer vermez, kulak asmazlar.

²³Zengin konuşunca herkes susar ve onun sözünü bulutlara kadar yükseltirler. Yoksul konuşunca ise, "Bu da kim?" derler; tökezleyecek olsa, onu üstelik tepetaklak edip devirirler.

²⁴İçinde günah bulunmayan zenginlik iyidir; tanrısızın ağzındaki yoksulluk ise kötüdür.

²⁵İnsanın yüreği yüzünü başkalaştırır, gerek iyiliğe gerekse kötülüğe doğru.

²⁶İyi bir yüreğin ayak izi neşeli bir yüzdür; özdeyişler bulmak ise zahmetli bir düşünüş gerektirir.

¹Ο ΑΠΤΟΜΕΝΟΣ πίσσης μολυνθήσεται, καὶ ὁ κοινωνῶν ὑπερηφάνῳ ὁμοιωθήσεται αὐτῷ.

²βάρος ὑπὲρ σὲ μὴ ἄρῃς, καὶ ἰσχυροτέρῳ σου καὶ πλουσιωτέρῳ μὴ κοινώνει. τί κοινωνήσει χύτρα πρὸς λέβητα; αὕτη προσκρούσει, καὶ αὕτη συντριβήσεται.

³πλούσιος ἠδίκησε, καὶ αὐτὸς προσενεβριμήσατο· πτωχὸς ἠδίκηται, καὶ αὐτὸς προσδεηθήσεται.

⁴ἐὰν χρησιμεύσῃς, ἐργᾶται ἐν σοί· καὶ ἐὰν ὑστερήσῃς, καταλείψει σε.

⁵ἐὰν ἔχῃς, συμβιώσεταί σοι καὶ ἀποκενώσει σε, καὶ αὐτὸς οὐ πονέσει.

⁶χρείαν ἔσχηκέ σου, καὶ ἀποπλανήσει σε καὶ προσγελάσεταί σοι καὶ δώσει σοι ἐλπίδα· λαλήσει σοι καλὰ καὶ ἐρεῖ· τίς ἡ χρεία σου;

⁷καὶ αἰσχυνεῖ σε ἐν τοῖς βρώμασιν αὐτοῦ, ἕως οὗ ἀποκενώσῃ σε δὶς ἢ τρίς, καὶ ἐπ᾿ ἐσχάτων καταμωκήσεταί σου· μετὰ ταῦτα ὄψεταί σε καὶ καταλείψει σε καὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν αὐτοῦ κινήσει ἐπὶ σοί.

⁸πρόσεχε μὴ ἀποπλανηθῇς καὶ μὴ ταπεινωθῇς ἐν ἀφροσύνῃ σου.

⁹Προσκαλεσαμένου σε δυνάστου, ὑποχωρῶν γίνου, καὶ τόσῳ μᾶλλον προσκαλέσεταί σε.

¹⁰μὴ ἔμπιπτε, ἵνα μὴ ἀπωσθῇς, καὶ μὴ μακρὰν ἀφίστω, ἵνα μὴ ἐπιλησθῇς.

¹¹μὴ ἔπεχε ἰσηγορεῖσθαι μετ᾿ αὐτοῦ καὶ μὴ πίστευε τοῖς πλείοσι λόγοις αὐτοῦ· ἐκ πολλῆς γὰρ λαλιᾶς πειράσει σε καὶ ὡς προσγελῶν ἐξετάσει σε.

¹²ἀνελεήμων ὁ μὴ συντηρῶν λόγους καὶ οὐ μὴ φείσηται περὶ κακώσεως καὶ δεσμῶν.

¹³συντήρησον καὶ πρόσεχε σφοδρῶς, ὅτι μετὰ τῆς πτώσεώς σου περιπατεῖς. [14 ἀκούων αὐτὰ ἐν ὕπνῳ σου γρηγόρησον· πάσῃ ζωῇ σου ἀγάπα τὸν Κύριον, καὶ ἐπικαλοῦ αὐτὸν εἰς σωτηρίαν σου].

¹⁵Πᾶν ζῷον ἀγαπᾷ τὸ ὅμοιον αὐτῷ καὶ πᾶς ἄνθρωπος τὸν πλησίον αὐτοῦ·

¹⁶πᾶσα σὰρξ κατὰ γένος συνάγεται, καὶ τῷ ὁμοίῳ αὐτοῦ προσκολληθήσεται ἀνήρ.

¹⁷τί κοινωνήσει λύκος ἀμνῷ; οὕτως ἁμαρτωλὸς πρὸς εὐσεβῆ.

¹⁸τίς εἰρήνη ὑαίνῃ πρὸς κύνα; καὶ τίς εἰρήνη πλουσίῳ πρὸς πένητα;

¹⁹κυνήγια λεόντων ὄναγροι ἐν ἐρήμῳ, οὕτως νομαὶ πλουσίων πτωχοί.

²⁰βδέλυγμα ὑπερηφάνῳ ταπεινότης, οὕτως βδέλυγμα πλουσίῳ πτωχός.

²¹πλούσιος σαλευόμενος στηρίζεται ὑπὸ φίλων, ταπεινὸς δὲ πεσὼν προσαπωθεῖται ὑπὸ φίλων.

²²πλουσίου σφαλέντος πολλοὶ ἀντιλήπτορες, ἐλάλησεν ἀπόρρητα καὶ ἐδικαίωσαν αὐτόν. ταπεινὸς ἔσφαλε καὶ προσεπετίμησαν αὐτῷ, ἐφθέγξατο σύνεσιν καὶ οὐκ ἐδόθη αὐτῷ τόπος.

²³πλούσιος ἐλάλησε καὶ πάντες ἐσίγησαν, καὶ τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ ἀνύψωσαν ἕως τῶν νεφελῶν. πτωχὸς ἐλάλησε καὶ εἶπαν· τίς οὗτος; κἂν προσκόψῃ, προσανατρέψουσιν αὐτόν.

²⁴ἀγαθὸς ὁ πλοῦτος, ᾧ μή ἐστιν ἁμαρτία, καὶ πονηρὰ ἡ πτωχεία ἐν στόματι ἀσεβοῦς.

²⁵Καρδία ἀνθρώπου ἀλλοιοῖ τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ, ἐάν τε εἰς ἀγαθὰ ἐάν τε εἰς κακά.

²⁶ἴχνος καρδίας ἐν ἀγαθοῖς πρόσωπον ἱλαρόν, καὶ εὕρεσις παραβολῶν διαλογισμοὶ μετὰ κόπου.

¹He that toucheth pitch shall be defiled therewith; and he that hath fellowship with a proud man shall be like unto him.

²Burden not thyself above thy power while thou livest; and have no fellowship with one that is mightier and richer than thyself: for how agree the kettle and the earthen pot together? for if the one be smitten against the other, it shall be broken.

³The rich man hath done wrong, and yet he threateneth withal: the poor is wronged, and he must intreat also.

⁴If thou be for his profit, he will use thee: but if thou have nothing, he will forsake thee.

⁵If thou have any thing, he will live with thee: yea, he will make thee bare, and will not be sorry for it.

⁶If he have need of thee, he will deceive thee, and smile upon thee, and put thee in hope; he will speak thee fair, and say, What wantest thou?

⁷And he will shame thee by his meats, until he have drawn thee dry twice or thrice, and at the last he will laugh thee to scorn afterward, when he seeth thee, he will forsake thee, and shake his head at thee.

⁸Beware that thou be not deceived and brought down in thy jollity.

⁹If thou be invited of a mighty man, withdraw thyself, and so much the more will he invite thee.

¹⁰Press thou not upon him, lest thou be put back; stand not far off, lest thou be forgotten.

¹¹Affect not to be made equal unto him in talk, and believe not his many words: for with much communication will he tempt thee, and smiling upon thee will get out thy secrets:

¹²But cruelly he will lay up thy words, and will not spare to do thee hurt, and to put thee in prison.

¹³Observe, and take good heed, for thou walkest in peril of thy overthrowing: when thou hearest these things, awake in thy sleep.

¹⁴Love the Lord all thy life, and call upon him for thy salvation.

¹⁵Every beast loveth his like, and every man loveth his neighbour.

¹⁶All flesh consorteth according to kind, and a man will cleave to his like.

¹⁷What fellowship hath the wolf with the lamb? so the sinner with the godly.

¹⁸What agreement is there between the hyena and a dog? and what peace between the rich and the poor?

¹⁹As the wild ass is the lion’s prey in the wilderness: so the rich eat up the poor.

²⁰As the proud hate humility: so doth the rich abhor the poor.

²¹A rich man beginning to fall is held up of his friends: but a poor man being down is thrust away by his friends.

²²When a rich man is fallen, he hath many helpers: he speaketh things not to be spoken, and yet men justify him: the poor man slipped, and yet they rebuked him too; he spake wisely, and could have no place.

²³When a rich man speaketh, every man holdeth his tongue, and, look, what he saith, they extol it to the clouds: but if the poor man speak, they say, What fellow is this? and if he stumble, they will help to overthrow him.

²⁴Riches are good unto him that hath no sin, and poverty is evil in the mouth of the ungodly.

²⁵The heart of a man changeth his countenance, whether it be for good or evil: and a merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance.

²⁶A cheerful countenance is a token of a heart that is in prosperity; and the finding out of parables is a wearisome labour of the mind.