King James Version · Under the Greeks
Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 7
Touch any underlined name to see who or where it is.
1Do no evil, so shall no harm come unto thee. 2Depart from the unjust, and shall turn away from thee. 3My son, sow not upon the furrows of unrighteousness, and thou shalt not reap them sevenfold. 4Seek not of preeminence, neither of the king the seat of . 5 not thyself before ; and boast not of thy before the king. 6Seek not to be judge, being not able to take away ; lest at any time thou fear the person of the mighty, an stumblingblock in of thy uprightness. 7Offend not against of a city, and then thou shalt not cast thyself down among the people. 8Bind not one upon another; for in one thou shalt not be unpunished. 9Say not, will look upon of my oblations, and when I offer to , he will accept it. 10Be not fainthearted when thou makest thy , and neglect not to give alms. 11Laugh no man to scorn in the bitterness of his : for there is one which humbleth and exalteth. 12Devise not a lie against thy brother; neither do the like to thy friend. 13Use not to make any manner of lie: for the custom thereof is not good. 14Use not many words in a multitude of , and make not much babbling when thou prayest. 15Hate not laborious work, neither husbandry, which hath ordained. 16Number not thyself among of , but remember that will not tarry long. 17Humble thyself greatly: for the of the ungodly is and worms. 18Change not a friend for any good by no means; neither a brother for the gold of . 19Forego not a and good woman: for her is above gold. 20Whereas thy servant worketh truly, entreat him not evil. nor the hireling that bestoweth himself wholly for thee. 21Let thy love a good servant, and defraud him not of . 22Hast thou cattle? have an eye to them: and if they be for thy profit, keep them with thee. 23Hast thou children? instruct them, and their neck from their youth. 24Hast thou daughters? have a care of their body, and shew not thyself cheerful toward them. 25Marry thy daughter, and so shalt thou have performed a weighty matter: but give her to a man of understanding. 26Hast thou a wife after thy ? forsake her not: but give not thyself over to a woman. 27 thy with thy , and forget not the sorrows of thy mother. 28Remember that thou wast begotten of them; and how canst thou them the things that they have done for thee? 29 with all thy , and reverence his priests. 30Love him that made thee with all thy strength, and forsake not his ministers. 31, and the priest; and give him his , as it is commanded thee; the , and the trespass offering, and the gift of the shoulders, and the of sanctification, and the of the things. 32And stretch thine hand unto , that thy may be perfected. 33A gift hath in the sight of every man living; and for detain it not. 34Fail not to be with them that weep, and mourn with them that mourn. 35Be not slow to visit the sick: for that shall make thee to be beloved. 36Whatsoever thou takest in hand, remember the end, and thou shalt never do amiss.
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)