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Sirach · Updated Brenton English Septuagint

Sirach 24 Updated Brenton English Septuagint

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About LXXUP
  • Individual translator
  • OT: Septuagint (Greek)
  • Septuagint Old Testament (no New Testament)
  • Formal (word for word)
  • 2020
  • Public domain
Notes on this text (1)

1 Wisdom shall praise herself, And shall glory in the midst of her people. 2 In the congregation of the most High shall she open her mouth, And triumph before his power. 3 I came out of the mouth of the most High, And covered the earth as a cloud. 4 I dwelt in high places, And my throne is in a cloudy pillar. 5 I alone compassed the circuit of heaven, And walked in the bottom of the deep. 6 In the waves of the sea, and in all the earth, And in every people and nation, I got a possession. 7 With all these I sought rest: And in whose inheritance shall I abide? 8 So the Creator of all things gave me a commandment, And he that made me caused my tabernacle to rest, And said, Let thy dwelling be in Jacob, And thine inheritance in Israel. 9 He created me from the beginning before the world, And I shall never fail. 10 In the holy tabernacle I served before him; And so was I established in Zion. 11 Likewise in the beloved city he gave me rest, And in Jerusalem was my power. 12 And I took root in an honorable people, Even in the portion of the Lord’s inheritance. 13 I was exalted like a cedar in Lebanon, And as a cypress tree upon the mountains of Hermon. 14 I was exalted like a palm tree on the sea shore, And as a rose plant in Jericho, As a fair olive tree in a plain, And grew up as a plane tree. 15 I gave a sweet smell like cinnamon and aspalathus, And I yielded a pleasant odor like the best myrrh, As galbanum, and onyx, and sweet storax, And as the fume of frankincense in the tabernacle. 16 As the turpentine tree I stretched out my branches, And my branches are the branches of honor and grace. 17 As the vine brought I forth pleasant savor, And my flowers are the fruit of honor and riches. 19 Come unto me, all ye that be desirous of me, And fill yourselves with my fruits. 20 For my memorial is sweeter than honey, And mine inheritance than the honeycomb. 21 They that eat me shall yet be hungry, And they that drink me shall yet be thirsty. 22 He that obeyeth me shall never be confounded, And they that work by me shall not do amiss. 23 All these things are the book of the covenant of the most high God, [Even] the law which Moses commanded For a heritage unto the congregations of Jacob. 25 He filleth all things with his wisdom, As Pishon and as Tigris in the time of the new fruits. 26 He maketh the understanding to abound like Euphrates, And as Jordan in the time of the harvest. 27 He maketh the doctrine of knowledge appear as the light, And as Gihon in the time of vintage. 28 The first man knew her not perfectly: No more shall the last find her out. 29 For her thoughts are more than the sea, And her counsels profounder than the great deep. 30 I also came out as a brook from a river, And as a conduit into a garden. 31 I said, I will water my best garden, And will water abundantly my garden bed: And, lo, my brook became a river, And my river became a sea. 32 I will yet make doctrine to shine as the morning, And will send forth her light afar off. 33 I will yet pour out doctrine as prophecy, And leave it to all ages forever. 34 Behold that I have not labored for myself only, But for all them that seek wisdom.

There are no verses 18, 24 in this translation; the other verses keep their usual numbers.

What the Fathers said

Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).

How these were chosen

“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).

  1. Quotes verse 24:3 Augustine of Hippo, The City of God (Book XIII, Chapters 21–23)

    … to have been emitted from the mouth of God; and if we believe that is the soul, we must consequently acknowledge it to be of the same substance, and equal to that wisdom, which says, "I come out of the mouth of the Most High." Wisdom, indeed, does not say it was breathed out of the mouth of God, but …

    Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)

  2. Quotes verse 24:21 Augustine of Hippo, Expositions on the Psalms (Psalm LXXXVI)

    For while He said, "Blessed are the hungry, for they shall be filled;" it is again said of Wisdom, "Those who eat Thee shall hunger again, and those who drink shall thirst again." Nay, but He did not say "again," but he said, "still:" for "shall thirst again" is as if once having been filled he departed and digested, and …

    Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 8 (1888)