Ecclesiasticus, 44

1. Next let us praise illustrious men, our ancestors in their successive generations.

1. The pride of the heavenly heights is the clear firmament, the appearance of heaven in a spectacle of glory.

2. The Lord has created an abundance of glory, and displayed his greatness from earliest times.

2. The sun, when it appears, making proclamation as it goes forth, is a marvelous instrument, the work of the Most High.

3. Some wielded authority as kings and were renowned for their strength; others were intelligent advisers and uttered prophetic sayings.

3. At noon it parches the land; and who can withstand its burning heat?

4. Others directed the people by their advice, by their understanding of the popular mind, and by the wise words of their teaching;

4. A man tending a furnace works in burning heat, but the sun burns the mountains three times as much; it breathes out fiery vapors, and with bright beams it blinds the eyes.

5. others composed musical melodies and set down ballads;

5. Great is the Lord who made it; and at his command it hastens on its course.

6. others were rich and powerful, living peacefully in their homes.

6. He made the moon also, to serve in its season to mark the times and to be an everlasting sign.

7. All these were honoured by their contemporaries and were the glory of their day.

7. From the moon comes the sign for feast days, a light that wanes when it has reached the full.

8. Some of them left a name behind them, so that their praises are still sung.

8. The month is named for the moon, increasing marvelously in its phases, an instrument of the hosts on high shining forth in the firmament of heaven.

9. While others have left no memory, and disappeared as though they had not existed. They are now as though they had never been, and so too, their children after them.

9. The glory of the stars is the beauty of heaven, a gleaming array in the heights of the Lord.

10. But here is a list of illustrious men whose good works have not been forgotten.

10. At the command of the Holy One they stand as ordered, they never relax in their watches.

11. In their descendants they find a rich inheritance, their posterity.

11. Look upon the rainbow, and praise him who made it, exceedingly beautiful in its brightness.

12. Their descendants stand by the commandments and, thanks to them, so do their children's children.

12. It encircles the heaven with its glorious arc; the hands of the Most High have stretched it out.

13. Their offspring will last for ever, their glory will not fade.

13. By his command he sends the driving snow and speeds the lightnings of his judgment.

14. Their bodies have been buried in peace, and their name lives on for all generations.

14. Therefore the storehouses are opened, and the clouds fly forth like birds.

15. The peoples will proclaim their wisdom, the assembly will celebrate their praises.

15. In his majesty he amasses the clouds, and the hailstones are broken in pieces.

16. Enoch pleased the Lord and was transferred to heaven, an example for the conversion of all generations.

16. At his appearing the mountains are shaken; at his will the south wind blows.

17. Noah was found perfectly upright, in the time of retribution he became the heir: because of him a remnant was preserved for the earth at the coming of the Flood.

17. The voice of his thunder rebukes the earth; so do the tempest from the north and the whirlwind. He scatters the snow like birds flying down, and its descent is like locusts alighting.

18. Everlasting covenants were made with him that never again should every living creature perish by flood.

18. The eye marvels at the beauty of its whiteness, and the mind is amazed at its falling.

19. Abraham, the great ancestor of a host of nations, no one was ever his equal in glory.

19. He pours the hoarfrost upon the earth like salt, and when it freezes, it becomes pointed thorns.

20. He observed the Law of the Most High, and entered into a covenant with him. He confirmed the covenant in his own flesh, and proved himself faithful under ordeal.

20. The cold north wind blows, and ice freezes over the water; it rests upon every pool of water, and the water puts it on like a breastplate.

21. The Lord therefore promised him on oath to bless the nations through his descendants, to multiply him like 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. He consumes the mountains and burns up the wilderness, and withers the tender grass like fire.

22. To Isaac too, for the sake of Abraham his father, he assured

22. A mist quickly heals all things; when the dew appears, it refreshes from the heat.

23. the blessing of all humanity; he caused the covenant to rest on the head of Jacob. He confirmed him in his blessings and gave him the land as his inheritance; he divided it into portions, and shared it out among the twelve tribes.

23. By his counsel he stilled the great deep and planted islands in it.

24.

24. Those who sail the sea tell of its dangers, and we marvel at what we hear.

25.

25. for in it are strange and marvelous works, all kinds of living things, and huge creatures of the sea.

26.

26. Because of him his messenger finds the way, and by his word all things hold together.

27.

27. Though we speak much we cannot reach the end, and the sum of our words is: "He is the all."

28.

28. Where shall we find strength to praise him? For he is greater than all his works.

29.

29. Terrible is the Lord and very great, and marvelous is his power.

30.

30. When you praise the Lord, exalt him as much as you can; for he will surpass even that. When you exalt him, put forth all your strength, and do not grow weary, for you cannot praise him enough.

31.

31. Who has seen him and can describe him? Or who can extol him as he is?

32.

32. Many things greater than these lie hidden, for we have seen but few of his works.

33.

33. For the Lord has made all things, and to the godly he has granted wisdom.