King James Version · Under the Greeks
Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 31
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1Watching for riches consumeth , and the care thereof driveth away sleep. 2Watching care will not let a man slumber, as a sore disease breaketh sleep, 3The rich hath great labour in gathering riches together; and when he resteth, he is filled with his delicates. 4 laboureth in his estate; and when he leaveth off, he is still needy. 5He that loveth gold shall not be , and he that followeth corruption shall have enough thereof. 6Gold hath been the of many, and their was present. 7It is a stumblingblock unto them that unto it, and every fool shall be taken therewith. 8 is the rich that is found , and hath not gone after gold. 9Who is he? and we will call him : for wonderful things hath he done among his people. 10Who hath been tried thereby, and found perfect? then let him . Who might offend, and hath not offended? or done evil, and hath not done it? 11His goods shall be established, and shall declare his alms. 12If thou sit at a bountiful table, be not greedy upon it, and say not, There is much meat on it. 13Remember that a eye is an evil thing: and what is created more than an eye? therefore it weepeth upon every occasion. 14Stretch not thine hand whithersoever it looketh, and thrust it not with him into the dish. 15Judge not thy neighbour by thyself: and be discreet in every point. 16Eat as it becometh a man, those things which are set before thee; and devour note, lest thou be hated. 17Leave off first for manners’ sake; and be not unsatiable, lest thou offend. 18When thou sittest among many, reach not thine hand out first of all. 19A very little is sufficient for a man well nurtured, and he fetcheth not his wind short upon his bed. 20Sound sleep cometh of moderate eating: he riseth early, and his wits are with him: but the pain of watching, and choler, and pangs of the belly, are with an unsatiable man. 21And if thou hast been forced to eat, arise, go forth, vomit, and thou shalt have rest. 22My son, hear me, and despise me not, and at the last thou shalt find as I told thee: in all thy works be quick, so shall there no sickness come unto thee. 23Whoso is liberal of his meat, men shall speak well of him; and the report of his good housekeeping will be . 24But against him that is a niggard of his meat the whole city shall murmur; and the testimonies of his niggardness shall not be doubted of. 25Shew not thy valiantness in ; for hath destroyed many. 26The furnace proveth the edge by dipping: so doth the of the proud by drunkenness. 27 is as good as life to a man, if it be drunk moderately: what life is then to a man that is without ? for it was made to make men glad. 28 measurably drunk and in season bringeth gladness of , and cheerfulness of : 29But drunken with excess maketh bitterness of , with brawling and quarrelling. 30Drunkenness increaseth the rage of a fool till he offend: it diminisheth strength, and maketh wounds. 31Rebuke not thy neighbour at the , and despise him not in his mirth: give him no despiteful words, and press not upon him with urging him to drink.
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)