Sirach

¹The memory of Josiah is like a blend of fragrances composed by the work of a perfumer. ↗

²His remembrance will be sweet like honey in every mouth, and like music at a banquet of wine. ↗

³He was divinely directed for the repentance of the nation, and he took away the abominations of impiety. ↗

⁴And he guided his heart toward the Lord. And during the days of sinners, he strengthened piety. ↗

⁵Other than David, and Hezekiah, and Josiah, everyone committed sin. ↗

⁶For the kings of Judah abandoned the law of the Most High, and they held contempt for the fear of God. ↗

⁷For they gave their kingdom to foreigners, and their glory to a strange people. ↗

⁸They set fire to the chosen city of sanctity, and they made its streets desolate, in accord with the hand of Jeremiah. ↗

⁹For they treated him wickedly, though he was consecrated as a prophet from his mother’s womb: to overthrow, and to root out, and to destroy, and also to rebuild and to renew. ↗

¹⁰It was Ezekiel who saw a vision of glory, which was revealed to him with the chariot of the Cherubim. ↗

¹¹For it called to mind the enemies under the figure of rain, to do good to those who have revealed the upright ways. ↗

¹²And may the bones of the twelve prophets spring up from their place. For they strengthened Jacob, and they redeemed themselves with a virtuous faith. ↗

¹³How will we magnify Zerubbabel? For he, too, was like a signet on the right hand. ↗

¹⁴So also was Jesus, the son of Jozadak, who in their days built the house, and raised up a holy temple to the Lord, as a preparation for everlasting glory. ↗

¹⁵And may Nehemiah be remembered for a long time. He raised up for us the walls that had been torn down. And he made firm the gates and the bars. He raised up our houses. ↗

¹⁶No one has been born upon the earth like Enoch. And he was also taken up from the earth. ↗

¹⁷And there was no one like Joseph, who was a man born to be foremost among his brothers, the firmament of his clan, a guide to his brethren, the mainstay of his people. ↗

¹⁸And his bones were visited, and after death, they prophesied. ↗

¹⁹Shem and Seth obtained glory among men. And above every soul, at the very beginning, was Adam. ↗