Ben Sira 47

¹After him came Nathan[#An idealized portrait of David; cf. 1 Chronicles.]

who served in David’s presence.

²Like the choice fat of sacred offerings,

so was David in Israel.

³He played with lions as though they were young goats,

and with bears, like lambs of the flock.

⁴As a youth he struck down the giant

and wiped out the people’s disgrace;

His hand let fly the slingstone

that shattered the pride of Goliath.

⁵For he had called upon the Most High God,

who gave strength to his right arm

To defeat the skilled warrior

and establish the might of his people.

⁶Therefore the women sang his praises

and honored him for “the tens of thousands.”

When he received the royal crown, he battled

⁷and subdued the enemy on every side.

He campaigned against the hostile Philistines

and shattered their power till our own day.

⁸With his every deed he offered thanks

to God Most High, in words of praise.

With his whole heart he loved his Maker

⁹and daily had his praises sung;

¹⁰He added beauty to the feasts

and solemnized the seasons of each year

⁹With string music before the altar,

providing sweet melody for the psalms

¹⁰So that when the Holy Name was praised,

before daybreak the sanctuary would resound.

¹¹The Lord forgave him his sins

and exalted his strength forever;

He conferred on him the rights of royalty

and established his throne in Israel.

¹²Because of his merits he had as successor[#The standard view of Solomon is echoed by Ben Sira, but he affirms the divine promise (v. 22) to David’s line.]

a wise son, who lived in security:

¹³Solomon reigned during an era of peace,

for God brought rest to all his borders.

He built a house to the name of God,

and established a lasting sanctuary.

¹⁴How wise you were when you were young,

overflowing with instruction, like the Nile in flood!

¹⁵Your understanding covered the whole earth,

and, like a sea, filled it with knowledge.

¹⁶Your fame reached distant coasts,

and you were beloved for your peaceful reign.

¹⁷With song and proverb and riddle,

and with your answers, you astounded the nations.

¹⁸You were called by that glorious name

which was conferred upon Israel.

Gold you gathered like so much iron;

you heaped up silver as though it were lead.

¹⁹But you abandoned yourself to women

and gave them dominion over your body.

²⁰You brought a stain upon your glory,

shame upon your marriage bed,

Wrath upon your descendants,

and groaning upon your deathbed.

²¹Thus two governments came into being,

when in Ephraim kingship was usurped.

²²But God does not withdraw his mercy,

nor permit even one of his promises to fail.

He does not uproot the posterity of the chosen,

nor destroy the offspring of his friends.

So he gave to Jacob a remnant,

to David a root from his own family.

²³Solomon finally slept with his ancestors,

and left behind him one of his sons,

Broad in folly, narrow in sense,

whose policy made the people rebel.

Then arose the one who should not be remembered,

the sinner who led Israel into sin,

Who brought ruin to Ephraim

²⁴and caused them to be exiled from their land.

²⁵Their sinfulness grew more and more,

and they gave themselves to every evil