---
title: "Sirach 39 – Catholic Bible (CPDV) & Latin Vulgate · Bless"
url: https://blessbible.app/bible/sirach/39/
description: "The exercises of the wise man. The Lord is to be glorified for his works. Sirach 39 in the Catholic Public Domain Version, with the Latin Vulgate."
---

# Sirach 39

Sirach 39 is chapter 39 of 51 in the Book of Sirach. Here are all 41 verses in the Catholic Public Domain Version, with the Latin of the Clementine Vulgate beside them.

> The exercises of the wise man. The Lord is to be glorified for his works.
>
> — Bp. Richard Challoner, chapter summary

## Sirach 39 (Catholic Public Domain Version)

1. A wise man will seek the wisdom of all the ancients, and he will be occupied in the prophets.
2. He will preserve the words of renowned men, and he will enter with them into the subtleties of parables.
3. He will search for the hidden meanings of proverbs, and he will become familiar with the mysteries of parables.
4. He will minister in the midst of great men, and he will appear in the sight of the foremost leader.
5. He will pass through the land of foreign nations. For he will test good and evil among men.
6. At first light, he will offer his heart with watchfulness to the Lord who made him, and he will pray in the sight of the Most High.
7. He will open his mouth in prayer, and he will make supplication for his offenses.
8. For if the great Lord is willing, he will fill him with the Spirit of understanding.
9. And he will send forth the eloquence of his wisdom like rain showers, and in his prayer, he will confess to the Lord.
10. And he will direct his counsel and his discipline, and he will meditate on his mysteries.
11. He will make the discipline of his doctrine clear, and he will glory in the law of the covenant of the Lord.
12. Many persons will together praise his wisdom, and it will never be abolished, for all ages.
13. The memory of him will not fade away, and his name will be sought from generation to generation.
14. The peoples will declare his wisdom, and the Church will announce his praise.
15. While he remains, he leaves behind a name greater than a thousand, and when he will rest, it will be to his benefit.
16. I will meditate further, so that I may explain. For I have been filled with a passion.
17. In a voice, he says: Listen to me, divine fruits. You shall bear fruit, like roses planted beside streams of waters.
18. You shall have a sweet fragrance, like the cedars of Lebanon.
19. Blossom with flowers, like the lily, and diffuse a fragrance, and sprout leaves in grace, and give praise with canticles, and bless the Lord in his works.
20. Give magnificence to his name, and confess to him with the voice of your lips and with the canticles of your mouth and with stringed instruments. And in so praising him, you will confess:
21. All the works of the Lord are very good.
22. At his word, the waters stood still, as if piled together. And at the words of his mouth, the waters were contained, as if in basins of water.
23. For it is made pleasing by his precept, and there is no decrease in his salvation.
24. The works of all flesh are in his sight, and there is nothing hidden from his eyes.
25. His gaze is from eternity to eternity, and nothing is a wonder in his sight.
26. Let it not be said: “What is this?” or, “What is that?” For all things will be sought in their time.
27. His blessing has overflowed like a river.
28. In the same way that a flood inundates the dry land, so also will his wrath inherit the peoples that have not sought him.
29. In the same way that he turned the waters into dry land, and made the earth dry, and just as his ways have been directed for their journey, so also will sinners stumble before his wrath.
30. From the beginning, good things were created for those who are good, and similarly, good and evil things are for those who are wicked.
31. The principal things necessary for the life of men are: water, fire, and iron, salt, milk, and flour for bread, and honey, and the grape cluster, and oil, and clothing.
32. All these things will be used for good by those who are holy, but they will be turned to evil use by the impious and by sinners.
33. There are spirits that have been created for vengeance, and they strengthen their torments by their fury.
34. In the time of the consummation, they will pour forth their strength. And they will appease the fury of the One who made them.
35. Fire, hail, famine, and death: all these were created for vengeance.
36. The teeth of wild beasts, and scorpions, and serpents, and the spear: all these take vengeance upon the impious, unto utter destruction.
37. At his command, they will feast. And they will be prepared upon the earth until they are needed. And in their time, they will not ignore his word.
38. For this reason, from the beginning, I was strengthened, and I have meditated, and I have considered, and I have put these things in writing.
39. All the works of the Lord are good, and he will provide for each work in its own hour.
40. Let it not be said: “This is worse than that.” For all things will be tested in their time.
41. And now, with the whole heart and mouth, give praise to him, and bless the name of the Lord.

## Sirach 39 in Latin (Clementine Vulgate, 1592)

1. Sapientiam omnium antiquorum exquiret sapiens, et in prophetis vacabit.
2. Narrationem virorum nominatorum conservabit, et in versutias parabolarum simul introibit.
3. Occulta proverbiorum exquiret, et in absconditis parabolarum conversabitur.
4. In medio magnatorum ministrabit, et in conspectu præsidis apparebit.
5. In terram alienigenarum gentium pertransiet: bona enim et mala in hominibus tentabit.
6. Cor suum tradet ad vigilandum diluculo ad Dominum, qui fecit illum, et in conspectu Altissimi deprecabitur.
7. Aperiet os suum in oratione, et pro delictis suis deprecabitur.
8. Si enim Dominus magnus voluerit, spiritu intelligentiæ replebit illum:
9. et ipse tamquam imbres mittet eloquia sapientiæ suæ, et in oratione confitebitur Domino:
10. et ipse diriget consilium ejus, et disciplinam, et in absconditis suis consiliabitur.
11. Ipse palam faciet disciplinam doctrinæ suæ, et in lege testamenti Domini gloriabitur.
12. Collaudabunt multi sapientiam ejus, et usque in sæculum non delebitur.
13. Non recedet memoria ejus, et nomen ejus requiretur a generatione in generationem.
14. Sapientiam ejus enarrabunt gentes, et laudem ejus enuntiabit ecclesia.
15. Si permanserit, nomen derelinquet plus quam mille: et si requieverit, proderit illi.
16. Adhuc consiliabor ut enarrem: ut furore enim repletus sum.
17. In voce dicit: Obaudite me, divini fructus, et quasi rosa plantata super rivos aquarum fructificate.
18. Quasi Libanus odorem suavitatis habete.
19. Florete flores quasi lilium: et date odorem, et frondete in gratiam: et collaudate canticum, et benedicite Dominum in operibus suis.
20. Date nomini ejus magnificentiam, et confitemini illi in voce labiorum vestrorum, et in canticis labiorum, et citharis: et sic dicetis in confessione:
21. Opera Domini universa bona valde.
22. In verbo ejus stetit aqua sicut congeries: et in sermone oris illius sicut exceptoria aquarum:
23. quoniam in præcepto ipsius placor fit, et non est minoratio in salute ipsius.
24. Opera omnis carnis coram illo, et non est quidquam absconditum ab oculis ejus.
25. A sæculo usque in sæculum respicit, et nihil est mirabile in conspectu ejus.
26. Non est dicere: Quid est hoc, aut quid est istud? omnia enim in tempore suo quærentur.
27. Benedictio illius quasi fluvius inundavit.
28. Quomodo cataclysmus aridam inebriavit, sic ira ipsius gentes quæ non exquisierunt eum hæreditabit.
29. Quomodo convertit aquas in siccitatem, et siccata est terra, et viæ illius viis illorum directæ sunt, sic peccatoribus offensiones in ira ejus.
30. Bona bonis creata sunt ab initio: sic nequissimis bona et mala.
31. Initium necessariæ rei vitæ hominum, aqua, ignis, et ferrum, sal, lac, et panis similagineus, et mel, et botrus uvæ, et oleum, et vestimentum.
32. Hæc omnia sanctis in bona, sic et impiis et peccatoribus in mala convertentur.
33. Sunt spiritus qui ad vindictam creati sunt, et in furore suo confirmaverunt tormenta sua.
34. In tempore consummationis effundent virtutem, et furorem ejus qui fecit illos placabunt.
35. Ignis, grando, fames, et mors, omnia hæc ad vindictam creata sunt:
36. bestiarum dentes, et scorpii, et serpentes, et rhomphæa vindicans in exterminium impios.
37. In mandatis ejus epulabuntur: et super terram in necessitatem præparabuntur, et in temporibus suis non præterient verbum.
38. Propterea ab initio confirmatus sum, et consiliatus sum, et cogitavi, et scripta dimisi.
39. Omnia opera Domini bona, et omne opus hora sua subministrabit.
40. Non est dicere: Hoc illo nequius est: omnia enim in tempore suo comprobabuntur.
41. Et nunc in omni corde et ore collaudate, et benedicite nomen Domini.

## Bishop Challoner's notes

Bp. Richard Challoner, notes on the Douay-Rheims (1750); they comment on its older wording.
- Verse 17: He speaks to the children of Israel, the people of God: whom he exhorts to bud forth and flourish with virtue.

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