“His blessing covers the dry land
Like a river.
His blessing drenches it
Like a flood.
But his wrath drives out
The nations.
He has turned a watered land
Into salt.
To the faithful,
His ways are straight.
But they are full of pitfalls
For the wicked.
From the beginning,
Good things were created
For the good.
But for the sinners,
Bad things.
The basic necessities of human life are
Water,
Fire,
Iron,
Salt,
Wheat flour,
Milk,
Honey,
The blood of the grape,
Oil,
And clothing.
All these are good
For the godly.
But for the sinners,
They turn into evils.”
Sirach remarks that the Lord’s blessing is a like a river on dry land or a drenching flood. However, he drives out countries with his wrath, as he has turned watered land into salt. The ways of the faithful are straight, but the wicked have all kinds of obstacles that they fall into. God created the good things, but the sinners get bad things. Then Sirach explained the basic necessities of life. I wonder if we would name all the same stuff. He had water, fire, iron, salt, wheat flour, milk, honey, grapes, oil, and clothing. These were good for the godly but evil for the sinners. In other words, you attitude towards them made them either good or bad.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 