Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 49

Josiah and Other Worthies

¹The name of Josiah is like blended incense[#49.1 Heb: Gk]

prepared by the skill of the perfumer;

his memory is as sweet as honey to every mouth,

and like music at a banquet of wine.

²He did what was right by reforming the people,

and removing the wicked abominations.

³He kept his heart fixed on the Lord;

in lawless times he made godliness prevail.

⁴Except for David and Hezekiah and Josiah,

all of them were great sinners,

for they abandoned the law of the Most High;

the kings of Judah came to an end.

⁵They gave their power to others,[#49.5 Heb]

and their glory to a foreign nation,

⁶who set fire to the chosen city of the sanctuary,

and made its streets desolate,

as Jeremiah had foretold.

⁷For they had mistreated him,

who even in the womb had been consecrated a prophet,

to pluck up and ruin and destroy,

and likewise to build and to plant.

⁸It was Ezekiel who saw the vision of glory,

which God showed him above the chariot of the cherubim.

⁹For God also mentioned Job[#49.9 Gk]

who held fast to all the ways of justice.

¹⁰May the bones of the Twelve Prophets

send forth new life from where they lie,

for they comforted the people of Jacob

and delivered them with confident hope.

¹¹How shall we magnify Zerubbabel?

He was like a signet ring on the right hand,

¹²and so was Jeshua son of Jozadak;

in their days they built the house

and raised a temple holy to the Lord,

destined for everlasting glory.

¹³The memory of Nehemiah also is lasting;

he raised our fallen walls,

and set up gates and bars,

and rebuilt our ruined houses.

Retrospect

¹⁴Few have ever been created on earth like Enoch,[#49.14 Heb Syr: Gk]

for he was taken up from the earth.

¹⁵Nor was anyone ever born like Joseph;[#49.15 Heb Syr: Gk adds]

even his bones were cared for.

¹⁶Shem and Seth and Enosh were honored,[#49.16 Heb: Gk]

but above every other created living being was Adam.