King James Version · Under the Greeks
Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 33
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1There shall no evil happen unto him that feareth ; but in even again he will him. 2A man hateth not ; but he that is an therein is as a ship in a storm. 3A man of understanding trusteth in ; and is unto him, as an oracle. 4Prepare what to say, and so thou shalt be heard: and bind up , and then make answer. 5 of the foolish is like a cartwheel; and his are like a rolling axletree. 6A stallion horse is as a mocking friend, he neigheth under every one that sitteth upon him. 7Why doth one day excel another, when as all of every day in the year is of the sun? 8By the knowledge of they were distinguished: and he altered seasons and feasts. 9Some of them hath he made high days, and hallowed them, and some of them hath he made ordinary days. 10And all men are from the ground, and was created of earth: 11In much knowledge hath divided them, and made their ways diverse. 12Some of them hath he and exalted and some of them he , and set near himself: but some of them hath he and brought low, and turned out of their places. 13As the is in the ’s hand, to fashion it at his pleasure: so man is in the hand of him that made him, to render to them as liketh him best. 14Good is set against evil, and life against : so is the godly against the , and the against the godly. 15So look upon all the works of ; and there are two and two, one against another. 16I awaked up last of all, as one that gathereth after the grapegatherers: by the of I profited, and trod my winepress like a gatherer of grapes. 17Consider that I laboured not for myself only, but for all them that seek learning. 18Hear me, O ye great men of the people, and with your ears, ye of . 19Give not thy son and wife, thy brother and friend, over thee while thou livest, and give not thy goods to another: lest it thee, and thou intreat for the same again. 20As long as thou livest and hast breath in thee, give not thyself over to any. 21For better it is that thy children should seek to thee, than that thou shouldest stand to their courtesy. 22In all thy works keep to thyself the preeminence; leave not a stain in thine . 23At the time when thou shalt end thy days, and finish thy life, distribute thine . 24Fodder, a wand, and burdens, are for the ass; and bread, , and work, for a servant.. 25If thou set thy servant to labour, thou shalt find rest: but if thou let him go idle, he shall seek . 26A and a collar do bow the neck: so are tortures and torments for an evil servant. 27Send him to labour, that he be not idle; for idleness teacheth much evil. 28Set him to work, as is fit for him: if he be not obedient, put on more heavy fetters. 29But be not excessive toward any; and without discretion do nothing. 30If thou have a servant, let him be unto thee as thyself, because thou hast bought him with a price. 31If thou have a servant, entreat him as a brother: for thou hast need of him, as of thine own : if thou entreat him evil, and he run from thee, which way wilt thou go to seek him?
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)