Sirach 49

The remembrance of ^aJosias is like ^bthe composition of the perfume

That is made by the art of the apothecary:

It is sweet as honey in all mouths,

And as ^cmusick at a banquet of wine.

²He behaved himself uprightly in the conversion of the people,

And ^dtook away the abominations of iniquity.

^3eHe directed his heart unto the Lord,

And in the time of the ungodly he established the worship of God.

⁴All, except David and Ezekias and Josias, were defective:

For they forsook the law of the most High,

Even the kings of Judah failed.

⁵Therefore ^fhe gave their power unto others,

And their glory to a strange nation.

^6gThey burnt the chosen city of the sanctuary,

And made the streets desolate, ^haccording to the prophecy of Jeremias.

⁷For ⁱthey entreated him evil,

Who nevertheless was a prophet, ^ksanctified in his mother’s womb,

^lThat he might root out, and afflict, and destroy;

And ^lthat he might build up also, and plant.

⁸It was ^mEzekiel who saw the glorious vision,

Which was shewed him upon ⁿthe chariot of the cherubims.

⁹For he made mention of the ^oenemies under the figure of the rain,

And directed them that went right.

¹⁰And of ^pthe twelve prophets ^qlet the memorial be blessed,

And ^rlet their bones flourish again out of their place:

For they comforted Jacob,

And delivered them by assured hope.

¹¹How shall we magnify ^sZorobabel?

Even he was ^tas a signet on the right hand:

¹²So was ^uJesus the son of Josedec:

Who in their time builded the house,

And set up a holy temple to the Lord,

Which was prepared for everlasting glory.

¹³And among the ^velect was Neemias,

Whose renown is great,

^wWho raised up for us the walls that were fallen,

And set up the gates and the bars,

And raised up our ruins again.

¹⁴But upon the earth was no man created like ^xEnoch;

For he was taken from the earth.

¹⁵Neither was there a man born like unto ^yJoseph,

^zA governor of his brethren, ^aa stay of the people,

^bWhose bones were regarded of the Lord.

^16cSem and ^dSeth were in great honour among men,

And so was ^eAdam above every living thing in the creation.

L.