Sirach 49

Common English Bible

49 The memory^[a] of Josiah
is like a blend of incense,
    prepared with skill by a perfumer.
It will be sweet in the mouth, like honey,
    like music at a wine-drinking party.
² He succeeded in turning around
the people,
    and he removed unlawful displays
    of idolatry.
³ He directed his heart toward the Lord;
    at a time of lawlessness,
    he made devotion to God stronger.

⁴ Except for David, Hezekiah, and Josiah,
        all of them struck a bad chord,
        because they abandoned
        the Law of the Most High.
    The kings of Judah came to an end.
⁵ They gave their power^[b] to others
    and their glory to a foreign nation,
⁶         which set fire to Jerusalem, the chosen city, and its sanctuary
        and made its streets desolate,
        as Jeremiah said.
⁷ They mistreated him,
    even though he had been set apart
    from the womb to be a prophet
        to uproot, ruin, destroy,
        and likewise to build and plant.

⁸ Ezekiel saw a vision of glory,
    when God showed him
    the chariot of the winged creatures.
⁹ He remembered the enemies
in the storm,
and favored those keeping
to a righteous path.^[c]
10 May the bones of the twelve prophets
    sprout new life from their
    burial places,
    because they comforted Jacob
    and rescued them
    with hopeful confidence.

¹¹ How should we praise Zerubbabel?
    He also was like a signet ring
    on the right hand,
¹²     as was Joshua, Jozadak’s son.
    In their time, they built a house
    and raised a holy temple to the Lord,
        prepared for everlasting glory.

¹⁴ No one was created on the earth
who was like Enoch,
    for he was taken up from the earth.
¹⁵ Nor has any man been born like Joseph,
    a leader of his brothers,
    a support for the people.^[d]
    They took special care
    even of his bones.
¹⁶ Shem and Seth were honored
among human beings,^[e]
    and above every living thing in creation
    was Adam.