Read & explore together
Labor and accumulated wealth do not secure the future
Sirach 11:10–19 warns that restless effort and gathered wealth cannot guarantee safety or control. This wisdom passage points to human limits and to the Lord’s rule over poverty, riches, life, death, and lasting good.
Understanding the passage
Listening in context
This passage is from Sirach, one of the Catholic additional books, and it is written as wisdom instruction addressed as “My son”. It compares busy striving, exhausting labour, weakness, poverty, riches, and death. Rather than telling a story, it gives ordered observations about life under the Lord’s oversight.
Sirach 11:10–19Main takeaway
This passage teaches that neither striving nor stored-up wealth can secure the future, because outcomes and lasting good finally rest with the Lord.
Look closely at the words
Open a card to explore the full explanation and its Bible references.
01Do not be caught up in endless pursuitsThe passage opens with a warning against being busy about many matters and meddling too much.
Explanation
The passage opens with a warning against being busy about many matters and meddling too much. Sirach links this kind of restless involvement with punishment. He also says that pursuing does not guarantee overtaking, and fleeing does not guarantee escape. The focus is on the limits of frantic human effort.
02Hard work and weakness can lead to unexpected outcomesSirach next presents two contrasts. One person toils, labours, and hurries, yet ends up further behind.
Explanation
Sirach next presents two contrasts. One person toils, labours, and hurries, yet ends up further behind. Another is sluggish, weak, poor, and in need of help, yet the Lord looks on him for good, raises him from his low condition, and lifts up his head so that many marvel. Outcomes are not explained by appearances alone.
03The Lord rules over life’s conditions and gives lasting goodThe passage then states that good things and bad, life and death, poverty and riches, are from the Lord.
Explanation
The passage then states that good things and bad, life and death, poverty and riches, are from the Lord. This is followed by a promise about the godly: the Lord’s gift remains with them, and his good pleasure will prosper forever. Sirach places lasting good with the Lord’s action, not merely human control.
04Riches earned by diligence still cannot secure tomorrowSirach acknowledges that a person may grow rich through diligence and self-denial, calling this the portion of his reward.
Explanation
Sirach acknowledges that a person may grow rich through diligence and self-denial, calling this the portion of his reward. Yet the next words expose the limit of that success. A person may say he has found rest and will eat of his goods, but he does not know how much time remains before he dies and leaves them to others.
Questions to explore
Pause, look back at the verses and talk together.
01What limits does Sirach place on pursuing and fleeing in the opening warning?
Notice that both chasing and escaping are described as uncertain, and list the outcomes Sirach says are not guaranteed.
02How do the two people in verses 11 to 13 show that visible effort is not the whole story?
Compare the worker who falls behind with the poor and weak person whom the Lord raises up and honours.
03What makes the speaker’s confidence about resting and eating his goods uncertain?
Read his claim in light of what verse 19 says he does not know about time, death, and leaving possessions to others.
Read the Bible passages
World English Bible ClassicScripture quotation · Public domain
Sirach 11:10–14
10My son, don’t be busy about many matters; for if you meddle much, you will not be unpunished. If you pursue, you will not overtake, and you will not escape by fleeing.
11There is one who toils, labors, and hurries, and is even more behind.
12There is one who is sluggish, and needs help, lacking in strength, and who abounds in poverty, but the Lord’s eyes looked upon him for good, and he raised him up from his low condition,
13and lifted up his head so that many marveled at him.
14Good things and bad, life and death, poverty and riches, are from the Lord.
Sirach 11:17–19
17The Lord’s gift remains with the godly. His good pleasure will prosper forever.
18One grows rich by his diligence and self-denial, and this is the portion of his reward:
19when he says, “I have found rest, and now I will eat of my goods!” he doesn’t know how much time will pass until he leaves them to others and dies.
Source passages
Source: Sirach 11 ↗Translation and source notes
Some verse numbers are represented by textual notes in World English Bible Classic. The reading below follows the text printed in the main passage.