Saturday, February 13, 2010

Sirach 2

1. My son, if you draw near to serve the Lord,
Prepare your soul for temptation.+

2. Set your heart right and be steadfast,
And do not strive anxiously in distress.

3. Cleave to Him and do not fall away.
That you may be honoured at the end of your life.

4. Accept whatever is brought upon you,
And in exchange for your humiliation, be patient;

5. Because gold is tested in fire
And acceptable men in the furnace of abasement.

6. Believe in Him, and He will help you;
Make you ways straight and hope in Him.

7. You who fear the Lord, wait for His mercy,
And do not turn aside, lest you fall.

8. You who fear the Lord, believe in Him,
And your reward will not fail.

9. You who fear the Lord, hope for good things
And for everlasting gladness and mercy.

10. Consider the ancient generations and see:
Who believed in the Lord and was put to shame?
Or who stood fast in His fear and was forsaken?
Or who called upon Him and was overlooked?

11. Because the Lord is compassionate and merciful,
He forgives sins and saves in time of affliction.

12. Woe to cowardly hearts and weakened hands,
And to a sinner who walks on two paths!+

13. Woe to a fainting heart, because it does not believe!
Therefore it will not be sheltered.

14. Woe to you who have lost your patient endurance!
What will you do when the Lord visits you?

15. Those who fear the Lord will not disobey His words,
And those who love Him will keep His ways.

16. Those who fear the Lord will seek His approval,
And those who love Him will be filled with the law.

17. Those who fear the Lord will prepare their hearts
And will humble their souls before Him.

18. We will fall into the hands of the Lord
And not into the hands of men;
For as His majesty is, so is His mercy.

~~~
Notes:

+2:1 - One who determines to serve the Lord will be tested and face temptation (see 1Co 10:13). Thus, we prepare our soul for this challenge to our fidelity.

+2:12-14 - Faintheartedness, the loss of endurance, and double-mindedness are forms of unbelief and bring great instability (see Jam 1:8).

9 comments:

  1. what edition of Sirach are you using? I'd like to pick this up

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  2. LK,

    I'm using the one in my Bible. I've got an Orthodox Study Bible, which is my favourite translation, so that's what I'm using at the moment, but any Catholic or Orthodox Bible will have Sirach in it.

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  3. LOL I thought it wasn't in mine but it is! I just missed it :) How embarassing. Im rusty with my Old Testament

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  4. Wow, it seems I inspired a new weekly series for your blog! I hope you don't have hard feelings against me. I know you warned me one time about your temper, but I can't remember if you said you hold grudges. *thinking*

    :)

    Thanks for posting this. Very nice passage and the ending is fantastic:

    "For as His majesty is, so is His mercy."

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  5. LK,

    Hah. No worries, lots of people are rusty with the OT. :)

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  6. Susanne,

    That you did. I had to look up the passage the author quoted in the book you were talking about, and it just reminded me of how much I loved the book of Sirach and how beautiful the language is. So I decided to share, since most Protestants will never see it.

    'I hope you don't have hard feelings against me. I know you warned me one time about your temper, but I can't remember if you said you hold grudges. *thinking*'

    Of course not! While I do have a temper, and I'm really good at holding grudges, there's honestly a fairly limited list of 'things that will piss me off'. Other than that, I'm pretty easy going. :)

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  7. Amber, that's good! :-) I generally thought you were easy-going and full of fun, but I just noticed all of a sudden you stopped commenting on my blog and then started the Sirach posts so I thought "wow, it seems I made her angry!" I realllllllllllllly didn't mean to and tried to explain later why this author may have picked on Sirach's writing of women. Yes, it was speculation, but I often try to see where another person is coming from and since he lived 60 years in the ME, he may have seen women treated the way Sirach described. You know some Muslims treat women as second-class sooooo perhaps this colored his opinion of Sirach.

    Anyway, I'm glad you aren't angry and that are you posting these so I can read his writings. So far they are lovely. :)

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  8. Susanne,

    Oh, sorry. No, I guess that was just a coincidence kind of thing. I've been reading, but haven't been commenting anywhere very much. Busy all around, and I try to only comment when I actually have something to say. :)

    I was in no way insulted or upset by what you posted on Sirach. I disagree with the author's understanding of what was written, and I said as much, but that's all. Opinions are like...well, you know. ;) Every one's got one. :p

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  9. I'm glad it was just a coincidence. I didn't want any hard feelings thus why I brought it up. Thanks for assuring me before leaving us. I'll miss you! Hope you have a wonderful Lenten season and you'll be back with lots of good stuff to share when you join us again. Be sweet and don't forget who was right about the fox and little prince story!

    *smooch*

    XOXOXO

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