Sirach 1:1-2

Common English Bible

Prologue

0 Numerous and wonderful things have been given to us through the Law, the Prophets, ² and the other writings that followed them. ³ For this reason, it is necessary to praise Israel for education and wisdom. ⁴ It is also necessary not only for those who read them to gain understanding ⁵ but also for those who love learning to be of service to strangers ⁶ when they speak and write. ⁷ Because of this, my grandfather, Jesus, who had devoted himself more and more ⁸ to the reading of the Law, ⁹ the Prophets, ¹⁰ and the other ancestral scrolls, ¹¹ and had gained enough experience with them, ¹² was himself led to compose a work dealing with education and wisdom. ¹³ His goal was that lovers of learning who were committed to education and wisdom^{[a] 14} should gain much more by living according to the Law.

¹⁵ You are invited, therefore, ¹⁷ to read ¹⁶ with goodwill and attention ¹⁸ and to be forgiving ¹⁹ in cases where we seem ²⁰ less than perfect in translating some expressions, despite working hard on the translation.

^21-22 What was originally expressed in Hebrew does not have the same power when translated into another language. ²³ Not only in this case ²⁴ but even in the case of the Law, the Prophets, ²⁵ and the rest of the scrolls, ²⁶ there’s no small difference between the translation and their expression in their own language.

²⁷ In the thirty-eighth year of the rule of King Euergetes, ²⁸ after I had arrived in Egypt and stayed awhile, ²⁹ having found a copy of this scroll to contain no small amount of practical advice, ³⁰ I personally made it a high priority to apply speed and hard work to translating this very scroll. ^31-32 I worked skillfully and stayed up many nights ³³ to bring the scroll to completion in order to publish it ³⁴ for those living abroad, who want to become well educated, ³⁵ preparing their character to live by the Law.

Wisdom’s origins