Ben Sira 14:3-5
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
The Use of Wealth
3 Wealth is not appropriate for the mean-spirited;[a]
to misers, what use is gold?
4 What they deny themselves they collect for someone else,
and strangers will live sumptuously on their possessions.(A)
5 To whom will they be generous that are stingy with themselves
and do not enjoy what is their own?
Footnotes
- 14:3–10 Ben Sira offers a case study about the miserable life of the “small-hearted” (Heb. leb qaṭan) to verify vv. 1–2. They are evil because they do not use their wealth properly to benefit themselves or others. While they are never satisfied that they have enough, they ignore their own needs and hospitality itself, feeding on the generosity of others, in order to protect their own resources. Ironically, after their death, strangers, with no obligation to keep their memory alive, enjoy their wealth.
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