Sir 51:20 I directed my soul unto her, and I found her in pureness: I have had my heart joined with her from the beginning, therefore shall I not be foresaken.

Sir 51:21 My heart was troubled in seeking her: therefore have I gotten a good possession.

Sir 51:22 The Lord hath given me a tongue for my reward, and I will praise him therewith.

Sir 51:23 Draw near unto me, ye unlearned, and dwell in the house of learning.

Sir 51:24 Wherefore are ye slow, and what say ye to these things, seeing your souls are very thirsty?

Sir 51:25 I opened my mouth, and said, Buy her for yourselves without money.

Sir 51:26 Put your neck under the yoke, and let your soul receive instruction: she is hard at hand to find.

Sir 51:27 Behold with your eyes, how that I have but little labour, and have gotten unto me much rest.

Sir 51:28 Get learning with a great sum of money, and get much gold by her.

Sir 51:29 Let your soul rejoice in his mercy, and be not ashamed of his praise.

Sir 51:30 Work your work betimes, and in his time he will give you your reward.

The Book of Baruch

Bar 1:1 And these are the words of the book, which Baruch the son of Nerias, the son of Maasias, the son of Sedecias, the son of Asadias, the son of Chelcias, wrote in Babylon,

Bar 1:2 In the fifth year, and in the seventh day of the month, what time as the Chaldeans took Jerusalem, and burnt it with fire.

Bar 1:3 And Baruch did read the words of this book in the hearing of Jechonias the son of Joachim king of Juda, and in the ears of all the people that came to hear the book,

Bar 1:4 And in the hearing of the n.o.bles, and of the king's sons, and in the hearing of the elders, and of all the people, from the lowest unto the highest, even of all them that dwelt at Babylon by the river Sud.

Bar 1:5 Whereupon they wept, fasted, and prayed before the Lord.

Bar 1:6 They made also a collection of money according to every man's power:

Bar 1:7 And they sent it to Jerusalem unto Joachim the high priest, the son of Chelcias, son of Salom, and to the priests, and to all the people which were found with him at Jerusalem,

Bar 1:8 At the same time when he received the vessels of the house of the Lord, that were carried out of the temple, to return them into the land of Juda, the tenth day of the month Sivan, namely, silver vessels, which Sedecias the son of Josias king of Jada had made,

Bar 1:9 After that Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon had carried away Jechonias, and the princes, and the captives, and the mighty men, and the people of the land, from Jerusalem, and brought them unto Babylon.

Bar 1:10 And they said, Behold, we have sent you money to buy you burnt offerings, and sin offerings, and incense, and prepare ye manna, and offer upon the altar of the Lord our G.o.d;

Bar 1:11 And pray for the life of Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon, and for the life of Balthasar his son, that their days may be upon earth as the days of heaven:

Bar 1:12 And the Lord will give us strength, and lighten our eyes, and we shall live under the shadow of Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon, and under the shadow of Balthasar his son, and we shall serve them many days, and find favour in their sight.

Bar 1:13 Pray for us also unto the Lord our G.o.d, for we have sinned against the Lord our G.o.d; and unto this day the fury of the Lord and his wrath is not turned from us.

Bar 1:14 And ye shall read this book which we have sent unto you, to make confession in the house of the Lord, upon the feasts and solemn days.

Bar 1:15 And ye shall say, To the Lord our G.o.d belongeth righteousness, but unto us the confusion of faces, as it is come to pa.s.s this day, unto them of Juda, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem,

Bar 1:16 And to our kings, and to our princes, and to our priests, and to our prophets, and to our fathers:

Bar 1:17 For we have sinned before the Lord,

Bar 1:18 And disobeyed him, and have not hearkened unto the voice of the Lord our G.o.d, to walk in the commandments that he gave us openly:

Bar 1:19 Since the day that the Lord brought our forefathers out of the land of Egypt, unto this present day, we have been disobedient unto the Lord our G.o.d, and we have been negligent in not hearing his voice.

Bar 1:20 Wherefore the evils cleaved unto us, and the curse, which the Lord appointed by Moses his servant at the time that he brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt, to give us a land that floweth with milk and honey, like as it is to see this day.

Bar 1:21 Nevertheless we have not hearkened unto the voice of the Lord our G.o.d, according unto all the words of the prophets, whom he sent unto us:

Bar 1:22 But every man followed the imagination of his own wicked heart, to serve strange G.o.ds, and to do evil in the sight of the Lord our G.o.d.

Bar 2:1 Therefore the Lord hath made good his word, which he p.r.o.nounced against us, and against our judges that judged Israel, and against our kings, and against our princes, and against the men of Israel and Juda,

Bar 2:2 To bring upon us great plagues, such as never happened under the whole heaven, as it came to pa.s.s in Jerusalem, according to the things that were written in the law of Moses;

Bar 2:3 That a man should eat the flesh of his own son, and the flesh of his own daughter.

Bar 2:4 Moreover he hath delivered them to be in subjection to all the kingdoms that are round about us, to be as a reproach and desolation among all the people round about, where the Lord hath scattered them.

Bar 2:5 Thus we were cast down, and not exalted, because we have sinned against the Lord our G.o.d, and have not been obedient unto his voice.

Bar 2:6 To the Lord our G.o.d appertaineth righteousness: but unto us and to our fathers open shame, as appeareth this day.

Bar 2:7 For all these plagues are come upon us, which the Lord hath p.r.o.nounced against us

Bar 2:8 Yet have we not prayed before the Lord, that we might turn every one from the imaginations of his wicked heart.

Bar 2:9 Wherefore the Lord watched over us for evil, and the Lord hath brought it upon us: for the Lord is righteous in all his works which he hath commanded us.

Bar 2:10 Yet we have not hearkened unto his voice, to walk in the commandments of the Lord, that he hath set before us.

Bar 2:11 And now, O Lord G.o.d of Israel, that hast brought thy people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and high arm, and with signs, and with wonders, and with great power, and hast gotten thyself a name, as appeareth this day:

Bar 2:12 O Lord our G.o.d, we have sinned, we have done unG.o.dly, we have dealt unrighteously in all thine ordinances.

Bar 2:13 Let thy wrath turn from us: for we are but a few left among the heathen, where thou hast scattered us.