Sirach 49

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

⁹ For 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.

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

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

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

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

¹⁴ So 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.

¹⁵ And 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.

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

¹⁷ And 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.

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

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