Single lesson
Sirach 34: Do not place empty hope in dreams and divination
Sirach 34:1–8; Sirach 34:9–17; Sirach 34:18–26
Sirach 34:1–8 warns against trusting dreams, divination, and false signs. This wisdom passage compares such hope to chasing shadows and wind, and it directs attention instead to what is faithful and true. This lesson also brings together Experience instructs and reverence gives protection, Stolen offerings and unchanged conduct defeat worship.
Before you teach
This passage comes from Sirach, a book in the Catholic additional books. In these verses, the writer speaks in wisdom-style sayings about dreams, divination, truth, and wisdom. The passage does not describe an event. It gives warnings and contrasts, moving from empty hope to faithful speech and the law.
Explain the central teaching of Sirach 34: Do not place empty hope in dreams and divination, using two details from the reading. Sirach 34:1–8 teaches that people should not give their hearts to dreams and divination, but value what is faithful, true, and wise. This passage teaches that experience can increase understanding, and those who fear the Lord place their hope in him as their support and protection. According to Sirach 34:18–26, worship offered while a person continues in unjust conduct is not accepted as true repentance.
Welcome: Sirach 34: Do not place empty hope in dreams and divination
5 minIntroduce “Do not place empty hope in dreams and divination”, “Experience instructs and reverence gives protection”, “Stolen offerings and unchanged conduct defeat worship” and locate Sirach 34:1–8; Sirach 34:9–17; Sirach 34:18–26. Sirach 34:1–8 teaches that people should not give their hearts to dreams and divination, but value what is faithful, true, and wise. Invite each learner to name a detail or question they will listen for.
Sirach 34:1, Sirach 34:5, Sirach 34:8
Read and explain the passage
12 minDo not place empty hope in dreams and divination (Sirach 34:1–8): The passage begins by calling some hopes vain and false. It says dreams can make fools confident, but that confidence is not sound. The warning is aimed at trusting what does not have solid truth behind it. A person without understanding is especially open to this kind of hope.
Experience instructs and reverence gives protection (Sirach 34:9–17): The passage opens by linking instruction and experience with knowledge and understanding. A well-instructed person knows many things, and a person with much experience can speak with understanding. It also says that someone without experience knows few things, while travel increases cleverness. The stress is on learning gained through instruction and lived experience.
Stolen offerings and unchanged conduct defeat worship (Sirach 34:18–26): The passage begins by saying that a sacrifice from wrongful gain is a mockery, not a gift God welcomes. It adds that the Most High does not delight in the offerings of the ungodly, and many sacrifices cannot simply cancel sins. The focus is not quantity, but moral truthfulness in worship.
Read the selected verses together, pausing at “Do not place empty hope in dreams and divination”, “Experience instructs and reverence gives protection”, “Stolen offerings and unchanged conduct defeat worship”. Use the source reading below and check the explanation against the words of the passage.
Sirach 34:1, Sirach 34:9, Sirach 34:10, Sirach 34:18, Sirach 34:19
Discuss the details and their meaning
8 minUse the three questions below. Begin with “What comparisons in this passage show that dreams are unreliable guides?” and allow time to find the supporting verses. According to Sirach 34:18–26, worship offered while a person continues in unjust conduct is not accepted as true repentance. Ask learners to explain which details support their answer and to identify a question they would like to explore further.
Sirach 34:2, Sirach 34:3, Sirach 34:11, Sirach 34:12, Sirach 34:23, Sirach 34:24, Sirach 34:25, Sirach 34:26
Make and respond: Wisdom comparison cards
12 minWork on “Sirach 34: Do not place empty hope in dreams and divination: Wisdom comparison cards”. Follow the materials and steps below, using “Do not place empty hope in dreams and divination”, “Experience instructs and reverence gives protection”, “Stolen offerings and unchanged conduct defeat worship” as reading headings. Each learner should include at least two accurate details and their verse references. Share one observation from the finished sheet and explain how it connects with the central teaching.
Sirach 34:1, Sirach 34:14, Sirach 34:26
Closing: return to Stolen offerings and unchanged conduct defeat worship
3 minRevisit Sirach 34:18–26. Invite a learner to summarise what the group has learned about Stolen offerings and unchanged conduct defeat worship and another to support the summary with a verse. Give learners a moment to complete their response sheet. They can share a question or, if appropriate for the group, join the optional prayer.
Sirach 34:18, Sirach 34:22, Sirach 34:26
Questions to explore
What comparisons in this passage show that dreams are unreliable guides?
Look for the images of grasping a shadow, following the wind, and seeing only a reflection, and explain what those pictures suggest.
Sirach 34:2, Sirach 34:3
How does the speaker use his own life to support what he says about experience?
Look for the first-person lines about travel, seeing many things, danger, and being preserved because of these experiences.
Sirach 34:11, Sirach 34:12
How do the examples of building and pulling down, praying and cursing, washing and touching again explain false repentance?
Each picture shows an action being cancelled or contradicted by what follows after it.
Sirach 34:23, Sirach 34:24, Sirach 34:25, Sirach 34:26
Make, think or respond
Sirach 34: Do not place empty hope in dreams and divination: Wisdom comparison cards
What you’ll need
- plain paper or card
- pencils or pens
- a Bible or the source reading on this page
Try it together
- Fold a sheet into three panels or draw three columns. Label them “What the passage commends”, “What it warns against”, “The reason or outcome stated”.
- Read Sirach 34:1–8; Sirach 34:9–17; Sirach 34:18–26. Use “Do not place empty hope in dreams and divination”, “Experience instructs and reverence gives protection”, “Stolen offerings and unchanged conduct defeat worship” as your reading headings and add a short quotation or detail with its verse reference to each panel.
- Compare your notes with a partner. Check that every quotation is accurate and every conclusion has support in the passage.
- Write a proposed everyday example beside one teaching. Label it as your example and explain which words in the text guided it.
The finished sheet keeps the details of Sirach 34: Do not place empty hope in dreams and divination connected to their Bible references and gives the group a way to explain what they noticed.
Adapt for your group
- For learners who need more support, prepare the reading headings “Do not place empty hope in dreams and divination”, “Experience instructs and reverence gives protection”, “Stolen offerings and unchanged conduct defeat worship” and let them match short quotations to the correct heading.
- For confident readers, compare two sections of Sirach 34:1–8; Sirach 34:9–17; Sirach 34:18–26. Ask for a written explanation with two supporting references and one question that the text leaves open.
An optional closing prayer
“God, help us listen carefully as we read Sirach 34:1–8; Sirach 34:9–17; Sirach 34:18–26. Help us understand what we have read, ask thoughtful questions and respond with care for others. Amen.”
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
Sirach 34
1 Vain and false hopes are for a man void of understanding. Dreams give wings to fools.
2 As one who grasps at a shadow and follows after the wind, so is he who sets his mind on dreams.
3 The vision of dreams is a reflection, the likeness of a face near a face.
4 From an unclean thing what can be cleansed? From that which is false what can be true?
5 Divinations, and soothsayings, and dreams, are vain. The heart has fantasies like a woman in labor.
6 If they are not sent in a visitation from the Most High, don’t give your heart to them.
7 For dreams have led many astray. They have failed by putting their hope in them.
8 Without lying the law will be fulfilled. Wisdom is complete in a faithful mouth.
9 A well-instructed man knows many things. He who has much experience will declare understanding.
10 He who has no experience knows few things. But he who has traveled increases cleverness.
11 I have seen many things in my travels. My understanding is more than my words.
12 I was often in danger even to death. I was preserved because of these experiences.
13 The spirit of those who fear the Lord will live, for their hope is in him who saves them.
14 Whoever fears the Lord won’t be afraid, and won’t be a coward, for he is his hope.
15 Blessed is the soul of him who fears the Lord. To whom does he give heed? Who is his support?
16 The eyes of the Lord are on those who love him, a mighty protection and strong support, a cover from the hot blast, a shade from the noonday sun, a guard from stumbling, and a help from falling.
17 He raises up the soul, and enlightens the eyes. He gives health, life, and blessing.
18 He who sacrifices a thing wrongfully gotten, his offering is made in mockery. The mockeries of wicked men are not acceptable.
19 The Most High has no pleasure in the offerings of the ungodly, Neither is he pacified for sins by the multitude of sacrifices.
20 Like one who kills a son before his father’s eyes is he who brings a sacrifice from the goods of the poor.
21 The bread of the needy is the life of the poor. He who deprives him of it is a man of blood.
22 Like one who murders his neighbor is he who takes away his living. Like a shedder of blood is he who deprives a hireling of his hire.
23 When one builds, and another pulls down, what profit do they have but toil?
24 When one prays, and another curses, whose voice will the Lord listen to?
25 He who washes himself after touching a dead body, and touches it again, what does he gain by his washing?
26 Even so a man fasting for his sins, and going again, and doing the same, who will listen to his prayer? What profit does he have in his humiliation?
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.