King James Version · Under the Greeks
Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 10
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1A judge will instruct his people; and the government of a prudent man is well ordered. 2As the judge of the people is himself, so are his officers; and what manner of man the ruler of the city is, such are all they that therein. 3An unwise king destroyeth his people; but through the prudence of them which are the city shall be inhabited. 4The of the earth is in the hand of , and in due time he will set over it one that is profitable. 5In the hand of is the prosperity of man: and upon the person of the shall he lay his . 6Bear not hatred to thy neighbour for every wrong; and do nothing at all by injurious practices. 7Pride is hateful before and man: and by both doth one commit . 8Because of unrighteous dealings, injuries, and riches got by deceit, is translated from one people to another. 9Why is earth and proud? There is not a more thing than a covetous man: for such an one setteth his own to sale; because while he liveth he casteth away his bowels. 10The physician cutteth off a long disease; and he that is to day a king to morrow shall . 11For when a man is , he shall creeping things, , and worms. 12The beginning of pride is when one departeth from , and is turned away from his Maker. 13For pride is the beginning of , and he that hath it shall pour out : and therefore brought upon them strange calamities, and overthrew them utterly. 14 hath cast down the of proud princes, and set up the meek in their stead. 15 hath plucked up the roots of the proud nations, and planted the lowly in their place. 16 overthrew countries of the heathen, and destroyed them to the foundations of the earth. 17He took some of them away, and destroyed them, and hath made their memorial to cease from the earth. 18Pride was not made for men, nor furious for them that are born of a woman. 19They that are a sure , and they that love him an honourable plant: they that regard not are a dishonourable ; they that transgress are a deceivable . 20Among brethren he that is chief is honorable; so are they that in his eyes. 21The goeth before the obtaining of : but roughness and pride is the losing thereof. 22Whether he be rich, noble, or , their is the . 23It is not meet to despise man that hath understanding; neither is it convenient to magnify a man. 24Great men, and judges, and potentates, shall be honoured; yet is there none of them greater than he that feareth . 25Unto the servant that is shall they that are free do : and he that hath knowledge will not grudge when he is reformed. 26Be not overwise in doing thy business; and boast not thyself in the time of thy distress. 27Better is he that laboureth, and aboundeth in all things, than he that boasteth himself, and wanteth bread. 28My son, thy in meekness, and give it according to the dignity thereof. 29Who will him that sinneth against his own ? and who will him that dishonoureth his own life? 30 man is honoured for his skill, and the rich man is honoured for his riches. 31He that is honoured in , how much more in riches? and he that is dishonourable in riches, how much more in ?
The 1611 translation, public domain. Its original printing included the Apocrypha, which is why the deuterocanonical books can be read here. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · Under the Greeks, 332 BC to 63 BC ›
Alexander's conquest and the kingdoms of his successors. Greek language and custom press in everywhere, and the crisis under Antiochus IV provokes the Maccabean revolt.
- The successors
- Alexander dies at thirty-two and his generals carve up the empire. Judea sits on the border between the Ptolemies in Egypt and the Seleucids in Syria, and is fought over by both for a century and a half, which is the ordinary condition of the corridor.
- Hellenism
- Not just conquest but a culture: the gymnasium, the theatre, Greek names, Greek dress, Greek as the language of anyone with ambitions. Some Jews embraced it, some resisted it, and the argument between them is the real subject of the Maccabean books. In Alexandria the Hebrew scriptures are translated into Greek, producing the Septuagint, which is the Bible most New Testament writers quote.
- The crisis
- Antiochus IV bans the practice of Judaism, plunders the temple, and sets up a pagan altar in it in 167 BC. The revolt under the Maccabees wins, the temple is rededicated in 164 BC, which is the origin of Hanukkah, and Judea has about eighty years of independence under the Hasmoneans before Rome arrives.
- Further afield
- Rome fights Carthage three times and ends up master of the Mediterranean. Euclid writes the Elements and Archimedes does his work at Syracuse. In China the Qin unify the country in 221 BC and the Han follow, opening what becomes the Silk Road.
All of Sirach (Ecclesiasticus)