---
title: "Sirach 5 – Catholic Bible (CPDV) & Latin Vulgate · Bless"
url: https://blessbible.app/bible/sirach/5/
description: "We must not presume of our wealth or strength: nor of the mercy of God, to go on… Sirach 5 in the Catholic Public Domain Version, with the Latin Vulgate."
---

# Sirach 5

Sirach 5 is chapter 5 of 51 in the Book of Sirach. Here are all 18 verses in the Catholic Public Domain Version, with the Latin of the Clementine Vulgate beside them.

> We must not presume of our wealth or strength: nor of the mercy of God, to go on in sin: we must be steadfast in virtue and truth.
>
> — Bp. Richard Challoner, chapter summary

## Sirach 5 (Catholic Public Domain Version)

1. Do not choose to seek iniquitous possessions, and you should not say: “I have all I need in life.” For it will be of no benefit to you in the time of retribution and darkness.
2. You should not pursue, in your strength, the desires of your heart.
3. And you should not say: “How powerful am I?” or, “Who will cast me down because of my deeds?” For God will vindicate with vengeance.
4. You should not say, “I sinned, and what grief has befallen me?” For the Most High is a patient recompensor.
5. Do not be willing to be without fear concerning a forgiven sin, and you should not add sin upon sin.
6. And you should not say: “The compassion of the Lord is great; he will take pity on the multitude of my sins.”
7. For both mercy and wrath go forth quickly from him, and his wrath sets its gaze upon sinners.
8. You should not delay being converted to the Lord, and you should not set it aside from day to day.
9. For his wrath will approach suddenly, and in the time of vindication, he will destroy you.
10. Do not choose to be anxious for unjust wealth. For these things will not benefit you in the day of darkness and retribution.
11. You should not winnow in every wind, and you should not go forth into every path. For so is every sinner proven by his duplicitous tongue.
12. Be steadfast in the way of the Lord and in the truth of your understanding and knowledge, and let words of peace and justice overtake you.
13. Be meek when listening to a word, so that you may understand. And offer a true response in wisdom.
14. If you understand, then answer your neighbor. But if you do not, then let your hand be over your mouth, so that you are not caught by an inept word, and then confounded.
15. Honor and glory are in the words of those who understand, yet truly, the tongue of the imprudent man is his undoing.
16. You should not be called a whisperer, and you should not be caught by your own tongue, and then confounded.
17. For confusion and remorse is upon a thief, and a wicked mark is upon the double-tongued; but for the whisperer, there is hatred and animosity and disgrace.
18. Justify the small and the great similarly.

## Sirach 5 in Latin (Clementine Vulgate, 1592)

1. Noli attendere ad possessiones iniquas, et ne dixeris: Est mihi sufficiens vita: nihil enim proderit in tempore vindictæ et obductionis.
2. Ne sequaris in fortitudine tua concupiscentiam cordis tui,
3. et ne dixeris: Quomodo potui? aut, Quis me subjiciet propter facta mea? Deus enim vindicans vindicabit.
4. Ne dixeris: Peccavi: et quid mihi accidit triste? Altissimus enim est patiens redditor.
5. De propitiatio peccato noli esse sine metu, neque adjicias peccatum super peccatum.
6. Et ne dicas: Miseratio Domini magna est, multitudinis peccatorum meorum miserebitur:
7. misericordia enim et ira ab illo cito proximant, et in peccatores respicit ira illius.
8. Non tardes converti ad Dominum, et ne differas de die in diem:
9. subito enim veniet ira illius, et in tempore vindictæ disperdet te.
10. Noli anxius esse in divitiis injustis: non enim proderunt tibi in die obductionis et vindictæ.
11. Non ventiles te in omnem ventum, et non eas in omnem viam: sic enim omnis peccator probatur in duplici lingua.
12. Esto firmus in via Domini, et in veritate sensus tui et scientia: et prosequatur te verbum pacis et justitiæ.
13. Esto mansuetus ad audiendum verbum, ut intelligas, et cum sapientia proferas responsum verum.
14. Si est tibi intellectus, responde proximo: sin autem, sit manus tua super os tuum, ne capiaris in verbo indisciplinato, et confundaris.
15. Honor et gloria in sermone sensati: lingua vero imprudentis subversio est ipsius.
16. Non appelleris susurro, et lingua tua ne capiaris et confundaris:
17. super furem enim est confusio et pœnitentia, et denotatio pessima super bilinguem: susurratori autem odium, et inimicitia, et contumelia.
18. Justifica pusillum et magnum similiter.

## Catechism of the Catholic Church

Paragraph numbers and the Catechism's own section headings (never quoted); text at vatican.va.
- CCC ¶ 1809: The Human Virtues ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- cf. CCC ¶ 2536: The Disorder of Covetous Desires ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))

## Read at Mass (US)

- Thu, May 20, 2027: Thursday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time — First Reading, Sirach 5:1-8

Citations as published in the USCCB liturgical calendar (principal Mass, first option).

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