Ben Sira - chapter 33

33: 1 - 31 (translated by Edgar Goodspeed)
No evil will befall the one who fears the Lord but in trial He will deliver him again and agin.  The wise will not hate the Law, but those who are hypocritical about it are like a ship in a storm.  A person of understanding will trust in the Law, and trust the Law as he would a decision by the sacred lot.  Prepare what you have to say, and then you will be listened to; knit your instruction together and give your answer.  The heart of a fool is a wagon wheel; and his thought is like a turning axle.  A stallion is like a mocking friend; he neighs under everyone who rides him.
Why is one day better than another, when the light of every day in the year is from the sun?  By the Lord's knowledge they have been separated, and He has made the various seasons and festivals.  Some of them He has exalted and made sacred, and some He has made ordinary days.  All men are from the ground, and Adam was created out of earth.  In the wealth of his knowledged the Lord has distinguished them, and made their ways different.  Some of them He has blessed and exalted, and some He has made holy and brought near Himself.  Some of them He has cursed and humbled, and thrown down from their position.  Like clay in the hand of the potter -- for all His ways are guided by His good plearusre -- so all are in the hand of their Creator, to be repaid as He decides.  As good is the opposite of evil, and life the opposite of death, so the sinner is the opposite of the godly.  So look upon all the works of the Most High, in pairs, one the opposite of the other.
I was the last to wake up, like one who gleans after the grape-gatherers; by the blessing of the Lord I got ahead, and like a grape-gatherer I filled my wine press.  Observe that I have not labored for myself only, but for all who seek instruction.  Hear me, you leaders of the people, and your rulers of the assembly, listen to me!
To a son or a wife, to a brother or a friend, do not give power over yourself as long as you live; do not give your money to someone else, so that you may not change your mind and have to ask for it.  As long as you live and have breath in your body, do not sell yourself to anybody.  For it is better that your children should ask from you, than that you should look to the clean hands of your children.  In all that you do retain control, so that you will not put any stain upon your reputation.  When the days of your life reach their end, at the time of your death distribute your property.
Fodder and a stick and loads for a donkey, bread and discipline and work for a servant.  Put your slave to work, and you will have rest; leave his handles idle, and he will seek his liberty.  The yoke and the strap will bend his neck, and racks and tortures are for a servant who is a wrongdoer.  Put him to work, so that he will not be idle, for idleness teaches much evil.  Set him such work as is suited to him, and if he does not obey, load him with fetters.  But do not be overbearing to anybody, and do not do anything without consideration (NRSV: justice).  If you have a/but one servant, regard him as yourself, because you have bought him with blood.  If you have a servant, treat him like a brother, for you need him as you do your own life.  If you ill-treat him, and he leaves and runs away, where will you look for him?