Sirach 16:2-4

Common English Bible

² If they have children,
don’t rejoice over them
    unless they respect the Lord.
³ Don’t be confident that they will live,
    and don’t rely on their great number.^[a]
    One is better than a thousand,
    and it’s better to die childless
    than to have ungodly children.
⁴ A city will be populated
through one intelligent person,
    but a tribe of lawless people
    can transform it into a desert.