Read & explore together
Social wrongs and the danger of gain
This wisdom passage names painful wrongs, then warns that profit and buying and selling can become places where sin enters. Its final line calls for a person to hold diligently to the fear of the Lord.
Understanding the passage
Listening in context
These verses are from Sirach, a wisdom book in the Catholic additional books. The speaker first lists three causes of grief and anger, then speaks about merchants, retailers, profit, buying and selling, and the fear of the Lord. The passage gives warnings in the form of wisdom instruction, not story.
Sirach 26:28–27:3Main takeaway
This passage warns that the pursuit of gain can be closely tied to wrongdoing, so a person must hold diligently to the fear of the Lord.
Look closely at the words
Open a card to explore the full explanation and its Bible references.
01Three causes of griefThe speaker says his heart is grieved by two things, and anger comes with a third. He names a warrior suffering because of poverty, men of understanding treated as garbage, and a person turning back from righteousness to sin.
Explanation
The speaker says his heart is grieved by two things, and anger comes with a third. He names a warrior suffering because of poverty, men of understanding treated as garbage, and a person turning back from righteousness to sin. That last case brings a severe warning: the Lord will prepare him for the sword.
02Merchants and wrongdoingThe passage next says it is difficult for a merchant to keep from wrongdoing, and difficult for a retailer to be acquitted of sin.
Explanation
The passage next says it is difficult for a merchant to keep from wrongdoing, and difficult for a retailer to be acquitted of sin. The verse does not explain every case, but it plainly connects these kinds of work with the danger of wrong doing and sin.
03Profit that turns the eye awaySirach continues the warning by saying that many have sinned for profit. It adds that the person who seeks to multiply wealth will turn his eye away.
Explanation
Sirach continues the warning by saying that many have sinned for profit. It adds that the person who seeks to multiply wealth will turn his eye away. In these verses, the pursuit of more wealth is presented as a setting in which people may ignore what they should not ignore.
04Sin in buying and sellingSin is pictured like a nail sticking fast between joined stones. In the same way, sin thrusts itself in between buying and selling.
Explanation
Sin is pictured like a nail sticking fast between joined stones. In the same way, sin thrusts itself in between buying and selling. The passage then gives its closing instruction: unless a person holds on diligently to the fear of the Lord, his house will be overthrown quickly.
Questions to explore
Pause, look back at the verses and talk together.
01What are the three situations that grieve the speaker at the start of the passage?
Answer from the verse itself, including the final warning about the person who turns back from righteousness to sin.
02How do these verses connect trade and profit with sin?
Notice the words about merchants, retailers, profit, multiplying wealth, and sin entering buying and selling.
03What does the passage say a person must hold on to diligently?
Look at the final verse and repeat its exact instruction before the warning about a house being overthrown quickly.
Read the Bible passages
World English Bible ClassicScripture quotation · Public domain
Sirach 26:28–29
28For two things my heart is grieved, and for the third anger comes upon me: a warrior who suffers for poverty, men of understanding who are counted as garbage, and one who turns back from righteousness to sin— the Lord will prepare him for the sword!
29It is difficult for a merchant to keep himself from wrong doing, and for a retailer to be acquitted of sin.
Sirach 27:1–3
1Many have sinned for profit. He who seeks to multiply wealth will turn his eye away.
2As a nail will stick fast between the joinings of stones, so sin will thrust itself in between buying and selling.
3Unless a person holds on diligently to the fear of the Lord, his house will be overthrown quickly.