Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 46

¹ Mighty in war was Joshua son of Nun, successor to Moses in the prophetic office, who well deserved his name,[*a] and was a great saviour of the Chosen People, wreaking vengeance on the enemies who opposed him, and so bringing Israel into its inheritance.

² How splendid he was when he raised his arms to brandish his sword against cities!

³ Who had ever shown such determination as his? He himself waged the wars of the Lord.

⁴ Was not the sun held back by his hand, and one day drawn out into two?

⁵ He called on God the Most High, as he pressed the enemy on every side; and the great Lord answered him with hard and violent hailstones.

⁶ He fell on that enemy nation, and at the Descent he destroyed all resistance; that the nations might acknowledge his warlike prowess and know that their foe was the Lord.

⁷ For he was a follower of the Mighty One, and in the time of Moses he did devoted service, he and Caleb son of Jephunneh, by opposing the whole community, by preventing the people from sinning, and by silencing the mutters of rebellion.

⁸ Hence these two alone were preserved out of six hundred thousand men on the march, and brought into their inheritance, into a land where milk and honey flow.

⁹ The Lord gave Caleb the strength-which he retained right into old age-to tread the highlands of the country which his descendants still hold as their inheritance,

¹⁰ for all the sons of Israel to see that it is good to follow the Lord

¹¹ The judges too, each when he was called, all men whose hearts were never disloyal, who never turned their backs on the Lord-may their memory be blessed!

¹² May their bones flower again from the tomb, and may the names of those illustrious men live again in their sons.

¹³ Samuel was the beloved of his Lord; prophet of the Lord, he instituted the kingdom, and anointed rulers over his people.

¹⁴ In the Law of the Lord he judged the assembly, and the Lord watched over Jacob.

¹⁵ By his loyalty he was recognised as a prophet, by his words he was known to be a trustworthy seer.

¹⁶ He called on the Lord, the Mighty One, when his enemies pressed him on every side, by offering a sucking lamb.

¹⁷ And the Lord thundered from heaven, and made his voice heard in a rolling peal;

¹⁸ he massacred the leaders of the enemy, and all the rulers of the Philistines.

¹⁹ Before the time of his everlasting rest he bore witness before the Lord and his anointed, ‘Of no property, not even a pair of sandals, have I ever deprived a soul’. Nor did anyone accuse him.

²⁰ And after he fell asleep he prophesied again, warning the king of his death; he lifted up his voice from the earth in prophecy, to blot out the wickedness of the people.