Simon the high priest, the son of Onias, who in his life propped up the house, and in his days fortified the temple.
2 By him also the height of the temple was founded, the double building and the high walls of the temple.
3 In his days the wells of water flowed out, and they were filled as the sea above measure.
4 He took care of his nation, and delivered it from destruction.
5 He prevailed to enlarge the city, and obtained glory in his conversation with the people: and enlarged the entrance of the house and the court.
6 He shone in his days as the morning star in the midst of a cloud, and as the moon at the full.
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7 And as the sun when it shineth, so did he shine in the temple of God.
8 And as the rainbow giving light in the bright clouds, and as the flower of roses in the days of the spring, and as the lilies that are on the brink of the water, and as the sweet smelling frankincense in the time of summer.
9 As a bright Are, and frankincense burning in the fire.
10 As a massy vessel of gold, adorned with every precious stone.
11 As an olive tree budding forth, and a cypress tree rearing itself on high, when he put on the robe of glory, and was clothed with the perfection of power.
12 When he went up to the holy altar, he honoured the vesture of holiness.
13 And when he took the portions out of the hands of the priests, he himself stood by the altar. And about him was the ring of his brethren: and as the cedar planted in mount Libanus,
14 And as branches of palm trees, they stood round about him, and all the sons of Aaron in their glory.
15 And the oblation of the Lord was in their hands, before all the congregation of Israel: and finishing his service, on the altar, to honour the offering of the most high Ring,
16 He stretched forth his hand to make a libation, and offered of the blood of the grape.
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17 He poured out at the foot of the altar a divine odour to the most high Prince.
18 Then the sons of Aaron shouted, they sounded with beaten trumpets, and made a great noise to be heard for a remembrance before God.
19 Then all the people together made haste, and fell down to the earth upon their faces, to adore the Lord their God, and to pray to the Almighty God the most High.
20 And the singers lifted up their voices. and in the great house the sound of sweet melody was increased.
21 And the people in prayer besought the Lord the most High, until the worship of the Lord was perfected, and they had finished their office.
22 Then coming down, he lifted up his hands over all the congregation of the children of Israel, to give glory to God with his lips, and to glory in his name:
23 And he repeated his prayer, willing to shew the power of God.
24 And now pray ye to the God of all, who hath done great things in all the earth, who hath increased our days from our mother’s womb, and hath done with us according to his mercy.
25 May he grant us joyfulness of heart, and that there be peace in our days in Israel for ever:
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26 That Israel may believe that the mercy of God is with us, to deliver us in his days.
27 There are two nations which my soul abhorreth: and the third is no nation, which I hate:
28 They that sit on mount Seir, and the Philistines, and the foolish people that dwell in Sichem.
29 Jesus the son of Sirach, of Jerusalem, hath written in this book the doctrine of wisdom and instruction, who renewed wisdom from his heart.
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30 Blessed is he that is conversant in these good things: and he that layeth them up in his heart, shall be wise always.
31 For if he do them, he shall be strong to do all things: because the light of God guideth his steps.
Bonaventure
“The foundation of virtue is faith, and we place it as a center. Faith is "as the morning star in the midst of a cloud." To this star the Christian rises after being lifted up from the waters of baptism. He enters darkness, and this darkness of faith is accompanied by a mysterious light. Now this foundation is that by which Christ is established in us. Through it faith goes forward by rising to the practical virtues, as if reaching the foot of the mountain where Moses offered twelve sacrifices; then it proceeds to the cleansing virtues as if at mid-slope, and finally to the virtues of the cleansed soul as at the mountain's top, a place well suited to the contemplation of the exemplary virtues.”
Origen
“When our Lord Jesus comes (his coming was prefigured by the ancient son of Nun) he sends his priests, the apostles, who carry trumpets hammered out of metal, that is, the magnificent, heavenly teaching of their preaching. Matthew, in his Gospel, first sounded the priestly trumpet. Mark, Luke and John also each blew their priestly trumpets. Peter also makes the trumpets resound in his two epistles, as do James and Jude. John continues to sound the trumpet in his epistles, as does Luke when he describes the deeds of the apostles. And finally the one arrives who says, "I believe that God has placed us, the apostles, in the last place," and hurling lightning bolts with the trumpets of his fourteen epistles, he makes the walls of Jericho—the contrivances of idolatry and the opinions of philosophers—collapse on their foundations.”
Rabanus Maurus
“He says that he hated two peoples. One of these is the Jewish people subject to the letter of the law, which was also known by the name of Seir, which means "shaggy" or "hairy." Seir is Esau, whose name means "red," the older son of Isaac and Rebecca; the younger was called Jacob. But why was Esau all red and hairy, if not because the first people was stained by the blood of the prophets and of Christ and lived in the squalor of sin and wickedness? For this reason the younger one grabbed onto his heel, since the younger people would mysteriously surpass the older. This is in fact "a perverse and adulterous generation," according to the truthful voice of the Gospel, that "kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to them." In the last days they did not fear to raise their impious hands against the heir, killing the Son of God. … The other people are the Philistines, whose name means "double ruin" and symbolizes the people of the nations, contaminated by both idolatry and perverse conduct and thus making themselves hateful, since in error they have strayed far from the way of truth. The third is then the assembly of heretics, the foolish people living at Shechem, in the sides of the mountain and in discomfort, because, writing and teaching perverse things every day, they foolishly waste their effort. The fact that they are not even considered a people shows that heretics do not have a single origin or a single error but have arisen in many different places and fallen into many errors. And they even contradict each other.”
Augustine of Hippo
“All of the works of the divine art show in themselves a certain unity, form and order. Each constitutes something of a unity, such as bodily natures and the characters of souls. And they are constituted according to a certain form, like the figures and qualities of bodies or the theories and techniques of the soul. And they follow or have a specific order, like the weights and positions of bodies or the loves and pleasures of the soul. It is necessary, therefore, that knowing the Creator through his works, we rise to the Trinity, of whom the creation, in a sure and just proportion, bears the traces.”