Sirach 6:1-16: a reflection

1Don’t become an enemy instead of a friend; for an evil name will inherit shame and reproach. So it is with the sinner who has a double tongue. 2Don’t exalt yourself in the counsel of your soul, that your soul not be torn in pieces like a bull. 3You will eat up your leaves, destroy your fruit, and leave yourself like a dry tree. 4A wicked soul will destroy him who has it, and will make him a laughing stock to his enemies. 5Sweet words will multiply a man’s friends. A gracious tongue will multiply courtesies. 6Let those that are at peace with you be many, but your advisers one of a thousand. 7If you want to gain a friend, get him in a time of testing, and don’t be in a hurry to trust him. 8For there is a friend just for an occasion. He won’t continue in the day of your affliction. 9And there is a friend who turns into an enemy. He will discover strife to your reproach. 10And there is a friend who is a companion at the table, but he won’t continue in the day of your affliction. 11In your prosperity he will be as yourself, and will be bold over your servants. 12If you are brought low, he will be against you, and will hide himself from your face. 13Separate yourself from your enemies, and beware of your friends. 14A faithful friend is a strong defense. He who has found him has found a treasure. 15There is nothing that can be taken in exchange for a faithful friend. His excellency is beyond price. 16A faithful friend is a life-saving medicine. Those who fear the Lord will find him.

Sirach reflects at length on friendship, warning of fair-weather friends who fall away in trouble, and then praising the rare treasure of a friend who is truly faithful. A faithful friend is a strong defense, he says; he who has found him has found a treasure. There is nothing that can be taken in exchange for a faithful friend. A faithful friend is a life-saving medicine. Such a friend, who stays through affliction and does not turn away when trouble comes, is beyond price, worth more than any possession, a shelter and a healing to the one who has him. Sirach does not take faithful friendship for granted; he knows how rare and precious it is, a treasure not to be exchanged for anything, and he says that those who fear the Lord will find such a friend. A truly faithful friend is one of life's greatest treasures.

Notice how highly Sirach values a faithful friend: a strong defense, a treasure, a life-saving medicine, beyond price. He has just warned of the many friends who are faithful only for a season, who fall away in the day of affliction; against them, the truly faithful friend shines all the brighter. Such a friend is rare and precious, worth more than any possession, a shelter in trouble and a healing to the soul. Sirach counts him among the greatest of treasures, not to be exchanged for anything. And he adds that those who fear the Lord will find such a friend, as though faithful friendship were bound up with a shared reverence for God. A faithful friend is a gift of great worth, to be treasured where it is found and, no less, to be for others.

That is worth taking to heart, for a faithful friend is a treasure beyond price, to be valued and to be. We can take our faithful friends for granted, or fail to be one ourselves; but Sirach reminds us how rare and precious a truly faithful friend is, a strong defense, a life-saving medicine, worth more than any possession. Such a friend is a gift to be treasured where we find it, and a gift to be for others in turn, staying faithful through affliction rather than falling away. Do not take a faithful friend for granted, nor fail to be one; a faithful friend is a treasure beyond price. Treasure the faithful friends you have, and be a faithful friend to others, staying through affliction rather than falling away, as Sirach calls a faithful friend a strong defense, a life-saving medicine, beyond price; for a truly faithful friend is one of life's rarest and greatest treasures, worth more than any possession, and those who fear the Lord will both find such friends and be them, treasuring the gift and giving it in turn.

Lord, Sirach reflects at length on friendship, warning of fair-weather friends who fall away in trouble, and then praising the rare treasure of a friend who is truly faithful. A faithful friend is a strong defense, he says; he who has found him has found a treasure. There is nothing that can be taken in exchange for a faithful friend. A faithful friend is a life-saving medicine. Such a friend, who stays through affliction and does not turn away when trouble comes, is beyond price, worth more than any possession, a shelter and a healing. Sirach does not take faithful friendship for granted; he knows how rare and precious it is, and he says that those who fear you will find such a friend. Show me how highly Sirach values a faithful friend: a strong defense, a treasure, a life-saving medicine, beyond price. He has just warned of the many friends who are faithful only for a season, who fall away in the day of affliction; against them, the truly faithful friend shines all the brighter. Such a friend is rare and precious, worth more than any possession. Sirach counts him among the greatest of treasures. And he adds that those who fear you will find such a friend, as though faithful friendship were bound up with a shared reverence for you. Take that to my heart, for a faithful friend is a treasure beyond price, to be valued and to be. I can take my faithful friends for granted, or fail to be one myself; but Sirach reminds me how rare and precious a truly faithful friend is. Such a friend is a gift to be treasured where I find it, and a gift to be for others in turn. Keep me from taking a faithful friend for granted, or failing to be one; help me treasure the faithful friends I have and be a faithful friend to others, Lord, staying through affliction rather than falling away, as Sirach calls a faithful friend a treasure beyond price.