Good News Bible Anglicised

Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 34:16-23 Good News Bible Anglicised (GNBDC)

16. The Lord watches over those who love him; he is their strong protection and firm support. He shelters them from the heat, shades them from the noonday sun, and keeps them from stumbling and falling.

17. He makes them cheerful and puts a sparkle in their eyes. He blesses them with life and health.

18. If you offer as a sacrifice an animal that you have obtained dishonestly, it is defective and unacceptable.

19. The Most High gets no pleasure from sacrifices made by ungodly people; no amount of sacrifices can make up for their sins.

20. Anyone who steals an animal from the poor to offer as a sacrifice is like someone who kills a boy before his father's eyes.

21. Food means life itself to poor people, and taking it away from them is murder.

22. It is murder to deprive someone of his living or to cheat an employee of his wages.

23. When one person builds and somebody else tears down, has anything been accomplished but hard work?