King James Version · Under the Greeks
Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 23
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1O , and Governor of all my whole life, leave me not to their counsels, and let me not fall by them. 2Who will set scourges over my , and the of over mine ? that they spare me not for mine ignorances, and it pass not by my : 3Lest mine ignorances increase, and my abound to my , and I fall before mine , and mine enemy rejoice over me, whose is far from thy mercy. 4O , and of my life, give me not a proud look, but turn away from thy servants always a haughty . 5Turn away from me hopes and concupiscence, and thou shalt hold him up that is desirous always to thee. 6Let not the greediness of the belly nor of take hold of me; and give not over me thy servant into an impudent . 7Hear, O ye children, the of the : he that keepeth it shall never be taken in his . 8The shall be left in his foolishness: both the evil speaker and the proud shall fall thereby. 9Accustom not thy to swearing; neither use thyself to the naming of the One. 10For as a servant that is continually beaten shall not be without a blue mark: so he that sweareth and nameth continually shall not be faultless. 11A man that useth much swearing shall be filled with , and the plague shall never depart from his house: if he shall offend, his shall be upon him: and if he not his , he maketh a double offence: and if he in , he shall not be innocent, but his house shall be full of calamities. 12There is a word that is clothed about with : grant that it be not found in the heritage of ; for all such things shall be far from the godly, and they shall not wallow in their . 13Use not thy to intemperate swearing, for therein is the word of . 14Remember thy and thy mother, when thou sittest among great men. Be not forgetful before them, and so thou by thy custom become a fool, and wish that thou hadst not been born, and they day of thy nativity. 15The man that is accustomed to opprobrious words will never be reformed all the days of his life. 16Two sorts of men multiply , and the third will bring : a hot is as a burning , it will never be quenched till it be consumed: a fornicator in the body of his will never cease till he hath kindled a . 17All bread is sweet to a whoremonger, he will not leave off till he . 18A man that breaketh wedlock, saying thus in , Who seeth me? I am compassed about with , the walls cover me, and no body seeth me; what need I to fear? will not remember my : 19Such a man only feareth the eyes of men, and knoweth not that the eyes of are ten thousand times brighter than the sun, beholding all the ways of men, and considering the most secret parts. 20He knew all things ere ever they were created; so also after they were perfected he looked upon them all. 21This man shall be punished in the streets of the city, and where he suspecteth not he shall be taken. 22Thus shall it go also with the wife that leaveth her husband, and bringeth in an by another. 23For first, she hath disobeyed of ; and secondly, she hath trespassed against her own husband; and thirdly, she hath played the whore in , and brought children by another man. 24She shall be brought out into , and inquisition shall be made of her children. 25Her children shall not take root, and her shall bring forth no fruit. 26She shall leave her memory to be , and her shall not be blotted out. 27And they that shall know that there is nothing better than the , and that there is nothing sweeter than to take heed unto of . 28It is great to follow , and to be received of him is long life.
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)