Sirach 44

NEW JERUSALEM	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 Next let us praise il ustrious men, our ancestors in their successive generations.	1 Now will I praise those godly men, our ancestors, each in his own time:
2 The Lord has created an abundance of glory, and displayed his greatness from earliest times.	2 The abounding glory of the Most High's portion, his own part, since the days of old. Subduers of the land in kingly fashion, men of renown for their might,
3 Some wielded authority as kings and were renowned for their strength; others were intel igent advisersand uttered prophetic sayings.	3 Or counselors in their prudence, or seers of all things in prophecy;
4 Others directed the people by their advice, by their understanding of the popular mind, and by the wisewords of their teaching;	4 Resolute princes of the folk, and governors with their staves; Authors skilled in composition, and forgers of epigrams with their spikes;
5 others composed musical melodies and set down bal ads;	5 Composers of melodious psalms, or discoursers on lyric themes;
6 others were rich and powerful, living peaceful y in their homes.	6 Stalwart men, solidly established and at peace in their own estates--
7 Al these were honoured by their contemporaries and were the glory of their day.	7 All these were glorious in their time, each illustrious in his day.
8 Some of them left a name behind them, so that their praises are stil sung.	8 Some of them have left behind a name and men recount their praiseworthy deeds;
9 While others have left no memory, and disappeared as though they had not existed. They are now asthough they had never been, and so too, their children after them.	9 But of others there is no memory, for when they ceased, they ceased. And they are as though they had not lived, they and their children after them.
10 But here is a list of il ustrious men whose good works have not been forgotten.	10 Yet these also were godly men whose virtues have not been forgotten;
11 In their descendants they find a rich inheritance, their posterity.	11 Their wealth remains in their families, their heritage with their descendants;
12 Their descendants stand by the commandments and, thanks to them, so do their children's children.	12 Through God's covenant with them their family endures, their posterity, for their sake.
13 Their offspring wil last for ever, their glory will not fade.	13 And for all time their progeny will endure, their glory will never be blotted out;
14 Their bodies have been buried in peace, and their name lives on for al generations.	14 Their bodies are peacefully laid away, but their name lives on and on.
15 The peoples will proclaim their wisdom, the assembly wil celebrate their praises.	15 At gatherings their wisdom is retold, and the assembly proclaims their praise.
16 Enoch pleased the Lord and was transferred to heaven, an example for the conversion of algenerations.	16 [ENOCH walked with the LORD and was taken up, that succeeding generations might learn by his example.]
17 Noah was found perfectly upright, in the time of retribution he became the heir: because of him aremnant was preserved for the earth at the coming of the Flood.	17 NOAH, found just and perfect, renewed the race in the time of devastation. Because of his worth there were survivors, and with a sign to him the deluge ended;
18 Everlasting covenants were made with him that never again should every living creature perish byflood.	18 A lasting agreement was made with him, that never should all flesh be destroyed.
19 Abraham, the great ancestor of a host of nations, no one was ever his equal in glory.	19 ABRAHAM, father of many peoples, kept his glory without stain:
20 He observed the Law of the Most High, and entered into a covenant with him. He confirmed thecovenant in his own flesh, and proved himself faithful under ordeal.	20 He observed the precepts of the Most High, and entered into an agreement with him; In his own flesh he incised the ordinance, and when tested he was found loyal.
21 The Lord therefore promised him on oath to bless the nations through his descendants, to multiply himlike the dust on the ground, to exalt his descendants like the stars, and to give them the land as their heritage,from one sea to the other, from the River to the ends of the earth.	21 For this reason, God promised him with an oath that in his descendants the nations would be blessed, That he would make him numerous as the grains of dust, and exalt his posterity like the stars; That he would give them an inheritance from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.
22 To Isaac too, for the sake of Abraham his father, he assured	22 And for ISAAC he renewed the same promise because of Abraham, his father. The covenant with all his forebears was confirmed, and the blessing rested upon the head of JACOB.
23 the blessing of al humanity; he caused the covenant to rest on the head of Jacob. He confirmed himin his blessings and gave him the land as his inheritance; he divided it into portions, and shared it out among thetwelve tribes.	23 God acknowledged him as the first-born, and gave him his inheritance. He fixed the boundaries for his tribes, and their division into twelve.