King James Version · Under the Greeks
Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 22
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1A slothful man is compared to a filthy stone, and every one will hiss him out to his . 2A slothful man is compared to the filth of a dunghill: every man that takes it up will shake his hand. 3An evilnurtured man is the dishonour of his that begat him: and a foolish daughter is born to his loss. 4A daughter shall bring an to her husband: but she that liveth dishonestly is her ’s heaviness. 5She that is bold dishonoureth both her and her husband, but they both shall despise her. 6A tale out of season is as musick in : but stripes and of are never out of time. 7Whoso teacheth a fool is as one that glueth a potsherd together, and as he that waketh one from a sound sleep. 8He that telleth a tale to a fool speaketh to one in a slumber: when he hath told his tale, he will say, What is the matter? 9If children live honestly, and have wherewithal, they shall cover the baseness of their parents. 10But children, being haughty, through disdain and want of nurture do stain the nobility of their kindred. 11Weep for , for he hath lost : and weep for the fool, for he wanteth understanding: make little weeping for , for he is at rest: but the life of the fool is worse than . 12Seven days do men mourn for him that is ; but for a fool and an ungodly man all the days of his life. 13Talk not much with a fool, and go not to him that hath no understanding: beware of him, lest thou have trouble, and thou shalt never be defiled with his fooleries: depart from him, and thou shalt find rest, and never be disquieted with madness. 14What is heavier than lead? and what is the name thereof, but a fool? 15Sand, and salt, and a mass of iron, is easier to bear, than a man without understanding. 16As timber girt and bound together in a building cannot be loosed with shaking: so that is stablished by advised shall fear at no time. 17A settled upon a thought of understanding is as a fair plaistering on the wall of a gallery. 18Pales set on an will never stand against the wind: so a fearful in the imagination of a fool cannot stand against any fear. 19He that pricketh the eye will make tears to fall: and he that pricketh maketh it to shew her knowledge. 20Whoso casteth a stone at the birds frayeth them away: and he that upbraideth his friend breaketh friendship. 21Though thou drewest a at thy friend, yet despair not: for there may be a returning to . 22If thou hast opened thy against thy friend, fear not; for there may be a reconciliation: except for upbraiding, or pride, or disclosing of secrets, or a treacherous wound: for for these things every friend will depart. 23Be to thy neighbour in his , that thou mayest rejoice in his prosperity: stedfast unto him in the time of his trouble, that thou mayest be with him in his heritage: for a mean estate is not always to be contemned: nor the rich that is foolish to be had in admiration. 24As the vapour and smoke of a furnace goeth before the ; so reviling before . 25I will not be to defend a friend; neither will I hide myself from him. 26And if any evil happen unto me by him, every one that heareth it will beware of him. 27Who shall set a watch before my , and a seal of upon my , that I fall not suddenly by them, and that my destroy me not?
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)