King James Version · Under the Greeks
Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 14
Touch any underlined name to see who or where it is.
1 is the man that hath not slipped with his , and is not pricked with of . 2 is he whose hath not condemned him, and who is not fallen from his in . 3Riches are not comely for a niggard: and what should an envious man do with money? 4He that gathereth by defrauding his own gathereth for others, that shall spend his goods riotously. 5He that is evil to himself, to whom will he be good? he shall not take pleasure in his goods. 6There is none worse than he that envieth himself; and this is a recompence of his wickedness. 7And if he doeth good, he doeth it unwillingly; and at the last he will declare his wickedness. 8The envious man hath a eye; he turneth away , and despiseth men. 9A covetous man’s eye is not satisfied with his ; and the of drieth up his . 10A eye envieth his bread, and he is a niggard at his table. 11My son, according to thy ability do good to thyself, and give his due . 12Remember that will not be long in coming, and that of the is not shewed unto thee. 13Do good unto thy friend before thou , and according to thy ability stretch out thy hand and give to him. 14Defraud not thyself of the good day, and let not the part of a good overpass thee. 15Shalt thou not leave thy travails unto another? and thy labours to be divided by lot? 16Give, and take, and thy ; for there is no seeking of dainties in the . 17 waxeth old as a garment: for is, Thou shalt the . 18As of the green leaves on a thick tree, some fall, and some grow; so is the generation of and , one cometh to an end, and another is born. 19Every work rotteth and consumeth away, and the worker thereof shall go withal. 20 is the man that doth good things in , and that reasoneth of things by his understanding. 21He that considereth her ways in shall also have understanding in her secrets. 22Go after her as one that traceth, and lie in wait in her ways. 23He that prieth in at her windows shall also at her doors. 24He that doth lodge near her house shall also fasten a pin in her walls. 25He shall pitch his tent nigh unto her, and shall lodge in a lodging where good things are. 26He shall set his children under her shelter, and shall lodge under her . 27By her he shall be covered from heat, and in her shall he .
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)