King James Version · Under the Greeks
Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 4
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1My son, defraud not of his living, and make not eyes to wait long. 2Make not an hungry sorrowful; neither provoke a man in his distress. 3Add not more trouble to an that is vexed; and defer not to give to him that is in need. 4Reject not the of ; neither turn away thy from a man. 5Turn not away thine eye from , and give him none occasion to thee: 6For if he thee in the bitterness of his , his shall be heard of him that made him. 7Get thyself the love of , and bow thy head to a great man. 8Let it not grieve thee to thine ear to , and give him a friendly answer with meekness. 9 him that suffereth wrong from the hand of the oppressor; and be not fainthearted when thou sittest in . 10Be as a unto , and instead of an husband unto their mother: so shalt thou be as the son of , and he shall love thee more than thy mother doth. 11 exalteth her children, and layeth hold of them that seek her. 12He that loveth her loveth life; and they that seek to her early shall be filled with joy. 13He that holdeth her shall ; and wheresoever she entereth, will . 14They that her shall minister to the One: and them that love her doth love. 15Whoso giveth ear unto her shall judge the nations: and he that attendeth unto her shall securely. 16If a man commit himself unto her, he shall her; and his generation shall hold her in possession. 17For at the first she will walk with him by crooked ways, and bring fear and dread upon him, and torment him with her , until she may his , and try him by her laws. 18Then will she return the straight way unto him, and comfort him, and shew him her secrets. 19But if he go wrong, she will forsake him, and give him over to his own . 20Observe the opportunity, and beware of evil; and be not when it concerneth thy . 21For there is a that bringeth ; and there is a which is and . 22Accept no person against thy , and let not the reverence of any man cause thee to fall. 23And refrain not to speak, when there is occasion to do good, and hide not thy in her beauty. 24For by speech shall be known: and learning by the word of . 25In no speak against the truth; but be abashed of the error of thine ignorance. 26Be not to thy ; and force not the course of the river. 27Make not thyself an underling to a foolish man; neither accept the person of the mighty. 28Strive for the truth unto , and shall fight for thee. 29Be not hasty in thy , and in thy deeds slack and remiss. 30Be not as a lion in thy house, nor frantick among thy servants. 31Let not thine hand be stretched out to receive, and shut when thou shouldest repay.
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)