Sirach Chapter 49

Sirach Chapter 49

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.