---
title: "Sirach 15 – Catholic Bible (CPDV) & Latin Vulgate · Bless"
url: https://blessbible.app/bible/sirach/15/
description: "Wisdom embraceth them that fear God. God is not the author of sin. Sirach 15 in the Catholic Public Domain Version, with the Latin Vulgate."
---

# Sirach 15

Sirach 15 is chapter 15 of 51 in the Book of Sirach. Here are all 22 verses in the Catholic Public Domain Version, with the Latin of the Clementine Vulgate beside them.

> Wisdom embraceth them that fear God. God is not the author of sin.
>
> — Bp. Richard Challoner, chapter summary

## Sirach 15 (Catholic Public Domain Version)

1. Whoever fears God will do good. And whoever holds to justice will obtain it.
2. And like an honorable mother, she will meet him, and like a virgin bride, she will receive him.
3. She will feed him with the bread of life and understanding. And she will give him to drink from the water of salvific wisdom. And she will be confirmed in him, and he will not waver.
4. And she will hold to him, and he will not be confounded. And she will exalt him, along with those closest to him.
5. And in the midst of the Church, she will open his mouth, and she will fill him with the spirit of wisdom and understanding, and she will clothe him with a robe of glory.
6. She will store up in him a treasure of rejoicing and exultation, and she will cause him to inherit an everlasting name.
7. But foolish men will not take hold of her. And though understanding men will meet her, foolish men will not catch sight of her. For she is far from arrogance and deceit.
8. Lying men will be wary of her. But men who speak the truth will be found with her, and they will have success, even when examined by God.
9. Praise is not beautiful in the mouth of a sinner.
10. For wisdom was sent from God. And praise will stand before the wisdom of God, and praise will abound in the mouths of the faithful, and the sovereign Lord will give praise to wisdom.
11. You should not say: “It is because of God that wisdom is absent.” For you should not do what he detests.
12. You should not say: “He has led me astray.” For the impious are of no use to him.
13. The Lord hates all abominable error, and those who fear him will not love such things.
14. God established man from the beginning, and he left him in the hand of his own counsel.
15. He added his commandments and precepts.
16. If you choose to keep the commandments, and if, having chosen them, you fulfill them with perpetual fidelity, they will preserve you.
17. He has set water and fire before you. Extend your hand to whichever one you would choose.
18. Before man is life and death, good and evil. Whichever one he chooses will be given to him.
19. For the wisdom of God is manifold. And he is strong in power, seeing all things without ceasing.
20. The eyes of the Lord are upon those who fear him, and he knows each one of the works of man.
21. He has commanded no one to act impiously, and he has given no one permission to sin.
22. For he does not desire a multitude of unfaithful and useless sons.

## Sirach 15 in Latin (Clementine Vulgate, 1592)

1. Qui timet Deum faciet bona, et qui continens est justitiæ apprehendet illam:
2. et obviabit illi quasi mater honorificata, et quasi mulier a virginitate suscipiet illum.
3. Cibabit illum pane vitæ et intellectus, et aqua sapientiæ salutaris potabit illum: et firmabitur in illo, et non flectetur:
4. et continebit illum, et non confundetur: et exaltabit illum apud proximos suos,
5. et in medio ecclesiæ aperiet os ejus, et adimplebit illum spiritu sapientiæ et intellectus, et stola gloriæ vestiet illum.
6. Jucunditatem et exsultationem thesaurizabit super illum, et nomine æterno hæreditabit illum.
7. Homines stulti non apprehendent illam, et homines sensati obviabunt illi. Homines stulti non videbunt eam: longe enim abest a superbia et dolo.
8. Viri mendaces non erunt illius memores: et viri veraces invenientur in illa, et successum habebunt usque ad inspectionem Dei.
9. Non est speciosa laus in ore peccatoris,
10. quoniam a Deo profecta est sapientia. Sapientiæ enim Dei astabit laus, et in ore fideli abundabit, et Dominator dabit eam illi.
11. Non dixeris: Per Deum abest: quæ enim odit ne feceris.
12. Non dicas: Ille me implanavit: non enim necessarii sunt ei homines impii.
13. Omne execramentum erroris odit Dominus, et non erit amabile timentibus eum.
14. Deus ab initio constituit hominem, et reliquit illum in manu consilii sui:
15. adjecit mandata et præcepta sua.
16. Si volueris mandata servare, conservabunt te, et in perpetuum fidem placitam facere.
17. Apposuit tibi aquam et ignem, ad quod volueris porrige manum tuam.
18. Ante hominem vita et mors, bonum et malum: quod placuerit ei dabitur illi:
19. quoniam multa sapientia Dei, et fortis in potentia, videns omnes sine intermissione.
20. Oculi Domini ad timentes eum, et ipse agnoscit omnem operam hominis.
21. Nemini mandavit impie agere, et nemini dedit spatium peccandi:
22. non enim concupiscit multitudinem filiorum infidelium et inutilium.

## Catechism of the Catholic Church

Paragraph numbers and the Catechism's own section headings (never quoted); text at vatican.va.
- CCC ¶ 1730: Man's Freedom ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))

Source: Catholic Public Domain Version (Ronald L. Conte Jr., 2009), public domain; Latin: Clementine Vulgate (1592).