1. Hebrew Bible, Proverbs, 24.12 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)
| 24.12. כִּי־תֹאמַר הֵן לֹא־יָדַעְנוּ זֶה הֲלֹא־תֹכֵן לִבּוֹת הוּא־יָבִין וְנֹצֵר נַפְשְׁךָ הוּא יֵדָע וְהֵשִׁיב לְאָדָם כְּפָעֳלוֹ׃ | 24.12. If thou sayest: ‘Behold, we knew not this’, Doth not He that weigheth the hearts consider it? And He that keepeth thy soul, doth not He know it? And shall not He render to every man according to his works?" |
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2. Hebrew Bible, Isaiah, 29.15, 46.8 (8th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
| 29.15. הוֹי הַמַּעֲמִיקִים מֵיהוָה לַסְתִּר עֵצָה וְהָיָה בְמַחְשָׁךְ מַעֲשֵׂיהֶם וַיֹּאמְרוּ מִי רֹאֵנוּ וּמִי יוֹדְעֵנוּ׃ 46.8. זִכְרוּ־זֹאת וְהִתְאֹשָׁשׁוּ הָשִׁיבוּ פוֹשְׁעִים עַל־לֵב׃ | 29.15. Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say: ‘Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?’" 46.8. Remember this, and stand fast; bring it to mind, O ye transgressors." |
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3. Hebrew Bible, Jeremiah, 2.23, 7.3-7.11, 21.7-21.10, 21.12, 27.6 (8th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
| 2.23. אֵיךְ תֹּאמְרִי לֹא נִטְמֵאתִי אַחֲרֵי הַבְּעָלִים לֹא הָלַכְתִּי רְאִי דַרְכֵּךְ בַּגַּיְא דְּעִי מֶה עָשִׂית בִּכְרָה קַלָּה מְשָׂרֶכֶת דְּרָכֶיהָ׃ 7.3. כֹּה־אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל הֵיטִיבוּ דַרְכֵיכֶם וּמַעַלְלֵיכֶם וַאֲשַׁכְּנָה אֶתְכֶם בַּמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה׃ 7.3. כִּי־עָשׂוּ בְנֵי־יְהוּדָה הָרַע בְּעֵינַי נְאֻום־יְהוָה שָׂמוּ שִׁקּוּצֵיהֶם בַּבַּיִת אֲשֶׁר־נִקְרָא־שְׁמִי עָלָיו לְטַמְּאוֹ׃ 7.4. אַל־תִּבְטְחוּ לָכֶם אֶל־דִּבְרֵי הַשֶּׁקֶר לֵאמֹר הֵיכַל יְהוָה הֵיכַל יְהוָה הֵיכַל יְהוָה הֵמָּה׃ 7.5. כִּי אִם־הֵיטֵיב תֵּיטִיבוּ אֶת־דַּרְכֵיכֶם וְאֶת־מַעַלְלֵיכֶם אִם־עָשׂוֹ תַעֲשׂוּ מִשְׁפָּט בֵּין אִישׁ וּבֵין רֵעֵהוּ׃ 7.6. גֵּר יָתוֹם וְאַלְמָנָה לֹא תַעֲשֹׁקוּ וְדָם נָקִי אַל־תִּשְׁפְּכוּ בַּמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה וְאַחֲרֵי אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים לֹא תֵלְכוּ לְרַע לָכֶם׃ 7.7. וְשִׁכַּנְתִּי אֶתְכֶם בַּמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה בָּאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר נָתַתִּי לַאֲבוֹתֵיכֶם לְמִן־עוֹלָם וְעַד־עוֹלָם׃ 7.8. הִנֵּה אַתֶּם בֹּטְחִים לָכֶם עַל־דִּבְרֵי הַשָּׁקֶר לְבִלְתִּי הוֹעִיל׃ 7.9. הֲגָנֹב רָצֹחַ וְנָאֹף וְהִשָּׁבֵעַ לַשֶּׁקֶר וְקַטֵּר לַבָּעַל וְהָלֹךְ אַחֲרֵי אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים אֲשֶׁר לֹא־יְדַעְתֶּם׃ 7.11. הַמְעָרַת פָּרִצִים הָיָה הַבַּיִת הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר־נִקְרָא־שְׁמִי עָלָיו בְּעֵינֵיכֶם גַּם אָנֹכִי הִנֵּה רָאִיתִי נְאֻם־יְהוָה׃ 21.7. וְאַחֲרֵי־כֵן נְאֻם־יְהוָה אֶתֵּן אֶת־צִדְקִיָּהוּ מֶלֶךְ־יְהוּדָה וְאֶת־עֲבָדָיו וְאֶת־הָעָם וְאֶת־הַנִּשְׁאָרִים בָּעִיר הַזֹּאת מִן־הַדֶּבֶר מִן־הַחֶרֶב וּמִן־הָרָעָב בְּיַד נְבוּכַדְרֶאצַּר מֶלֶךְ־בָּבֶל וּבְיַד אֹיְבֵיהֶם וּבְיַד מְבַקְשֵׁי נַפְשָׁם וְהִכָּם לְפִי־חֶרֶב לֹא־יָחוּס עֲלֵיהֶם וְלֹא יַחְמֹל וְלֹא יְרַחֵם׃ 21.8. וְאֶל־הָעָם הַזֶּה תֹּאמַר כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה הִנְנִי נֹתֵן לִפְנֵיכֶם אֶת־דֶּרֶךְ הַחַיִּים וְאֶת־דֶּרֶךְ הַמָּוֶת׃ 21.9. הַיֹּשֵׁב בָּעִיר הַזֹּאת יָמוּת בַּחֶרֶב וּבָרָעָב וּבַדָּבֶר וְהַיּוֹצֵא וְנָפַל עַל־הַכַּשְׂדִּים הַצָּרִים עֲלֵיכֶם יחיה [וְחָיָה] וְהָיְתָה־לּוֹ נַפְשׁוֹ לְשָׁלָל׃ 21.12. בֵּית דָּוִד כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה דִּינוּ לַבֹּקֶר מִשְׁפָּט וְהַצִּילוּ גָזוּל מִיַּד עוֹשֵׁק פֶּן־תֵּצֵא כָאֵשׁ חֲמָתִי וּבָעֲרָה וְאֵין מְכַבֶּה מִפְּנֵי רֹעַ מעלליהם [מַעַלְלֵיכֶם׃] 27.6. וְעַתָּה אָנֹכִי נָתַתִּי אֶת־כָּל־הָאֲרָצוֹת הָאֵלֶּה בְּיַד נְבוּכַדְנֶאצַּר מֶלֶךְ־בָּבֶל עַבְדִּי וְגַם אֶת־חַיַּת הַשָּׂדֶה נָתַתִּי לוֹ לְעָבְדוֹ׃ | 2.23. How canst thou say: ‘I am not defiled, I have not gone after the Baalim’? See thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done; thou art a swift young camel traversing her ways;" 7.3. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place." 7.4. Trust ye not in lying words, saying: ‘The temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, are these.’" 7.5. Nay, but if ye thoroughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye thoroughly execute justice between a man and his neighbour;" 7.6. if ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt;" 7.7. then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever." 7.8. Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit." 7.9. Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and offer unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye have not known," 7.10. and come and stand before Me in this house, whereupon My name is called, and say: ‘We are delivered’, that ye may do all these abominations?" 7.11. Is this house, whereupon My name is called, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it, saith the LORD." 21.7. And afterward, saith the LORD, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those that seek their life; and he shall smite them with the edge of the sword; he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have compassion." 21.8. And unto this people thou shalt say: Thus saith the LORD: Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death." 21.9. He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence; but he that goeth out, and falleth away to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be unto him for a prey." 21.10. For I have set My face against this city for evil, and not for good, saith the LORD; it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire." 21.12. O house of David, thus saith the LORD: Execute justice in the morning, And deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, Lest My fury go forth like fire, And burn that none can quench it, Because of the evil of your doings." 27.6. And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant; and the beasts of the field also have I given him to serve him." |
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4. Hebrew Bible, Ezekiel, 18.19 (6th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
| 18.19. וַאֲמַרְתֶּם מַדֻּעַ לֹא־נָשָׂא הַבֵּן בַּעֲוֺן הָאָב וְהַבֵּן מִשְׁפָּט וּצְדָקָה עָשָׂה אֵת כָּל־חֻקּוֹתַי שָׁמַר וַיַּעֲשֶׂה אֹתָם חָיֹה יִחְיֶה׃ | 18.19. Yet say ye: Why doth not the son bear the iniquity of the father with him? When the son hath done that which is lawful and right, and hath kept all My statutes, and hath done them, he shall surely live." |
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5. Anon., 1 Enoch, 97.8-97.9, 102.6-102.8, 104.7 (3rd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 97.8. Woe to you who acquire silver and gold in unrighteousness and say: ' We have become rich with riches and have possessions; And have acquired everything we have desired. 97.9. And now let us do what we purposed: For we have gathered silver 102.6. And yet when ye die the sinners speak over you: ' As we die, so die the righteous, And what benefit do they reap for their deed 102.7. Behold, even as we, so do they die in grief and darkness, And what have they more than we From henceforth we are equal. 102.8. And what will they receive and what will they see for ever Behold, they too have died, And henceforth for ever shall they see no light. 104.7. but keep afar from their violence; for ye shall become companions of the hosts of heaven. And, although ye sinners say: ' All our sins shall not be searched out and be written down, nevertheless |
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6. Septuagint, Ecclesiasticus (Siracides), 5.1, 11.17-11.19 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 5.1. Do not set your heart on your wealth,nor say, "I have enough. 5.1. Be steadfast in your understanding,and let your speech be consistent. 5.1. and do not become an enemy instead of a friend;for a bad name incurs shame and reproach:so fares the double-tongued sinner. 5.1. And there is a friend who is a table companion,but will not stand by you in your day of trouble. |
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7. Septuagint, Wisdom of Solomon, 2.1-2.20, 5.5-5.8 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
| 2.1. For they reasoned unsoundly, saying to themselves,"Short and sorrowful is our life,and there is no remedy when a man comes to his end,and no one has been known to return from Hades. 2.2. Because we were born by mere chance,and hereafter we shall be as though we had never been;because the breath in our nostrils is smoke,and reason is a spark kindled by the beating of our hearts. 2.3. When it is extinguished, the body will turn to ashes,and the spirit will dissolve like empty air. 2.4. Our name will be forgotten in time and no one will remember our works;our life will pass away like the traces of a cloud,and be scattered like mist that is chased by the rays of the sun and overcome by its heat. 2.5. For our allotted time is the passing of a shadow,and there is no return from our death,because it is sealed up and no one turns back. 2.6. Come, therefore, let us enjoy the good things that exist,and make use of the creation to the full as in youth. 2.7. Let us take our fill of costly wine and perfumes,and let no flower of spring pass by us. 2.8. Let us crown ourselves with rosebuds before they wither. 2.9. Let none of us fail to share in our revelry,everywhere let us leave signs of enjoyment,because this is our portion, and this our lot. 2.10. Let us oppress the righteous poor man;let us not spare the widow nor regard the gray hairs of the aged. 2.11. But let our might be our law of right,for what is weak proves itself to be useless. 2.12. Let us lie in wait for the righteous man,because he is inconvenient to us and opposes our actions;he reproaches us for sins against the law,and accuses us of sins against our training. 2.13. He professes to have knowledge of God,and calls himself a child of the Lord. 2.14. He became to us a reproof of our thoughts; 2.15. the very sight of him is a burden to us,because his manner of life is unlike that of others,and his ways are strange. 2.16. We are considered by him as something base,and he avoids our ways as unclean;he calls the last end of the righteous happy,and boasts that God is his father. 2.17. Let us see if his words are true,and let us test what will happen at the end of his life; 2.18. for if the righteous man is Gods son, he will help him,and will deliver him from the hand of his adversaries. 2.19. Let us test him with insult and torture,that we may find out how gentle he is,and make trial of his forbearance. 2.20. Let us condemn him to a shameful death,for, according to what he says, he will be protected. 5.5. Why has he been numbered among the sons of God?And why is his lot among the saints? 5.6. So it was we who strayed from the way of truth,and the light of righteousness did not shine on us,and the sun did not rise upon us. 5.7. We took our fill of the paths of lawlessness and destruction,and we journeyed through trackless deserts,but the way of the Lord we have not known. 5.8. What has our arrogance profited us?And what good has our boasted wealth brought us? |
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8. Josephus Flavius, Jewish War, 2.414, 2.456, 4.154, 4.213, 4.314-4.325, 4.336, 4.339, 4.562-4.563, 5.17-5.20, 6.98, 6.110 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 2.414. that they did now irritate the Romans to take up arms against them, and invited them to make war upon them, and brought up novel rules of a strange Divine worship, and determined to run the hazard of having their city condemned for impiety, while they would not allow any foreigner, but Jews only, either to sacrifice or to worship therein. 2.456. for indeed it so happened that this murder was perpetrated on the Sabbath day, on which day the Jews have a respite from their works on account of Divine worship. 4.154. The pretense they made for this strange attempt was an ancient practice, while they said that of old it was determined by lot; but in truth, it was no better than a dissolution of an undeniable law, and a cunning contrivance to seize upon the government, derived from those that presumed to appoint governors as they themselves pleased. 4.213. yet was it not easy to get quit of him, so potent was he grown by his wicked practices. He was also supported by many of those eminent men, who were to be consulted upon all considerable affairs; it was therefore thought reasonable to oblige him to give them assurance of his goodwill upon oath; 4.314. 2. But the rage of the Idumeans was not satiated by these slaughters; but they now betook themselves to the city, and plundered every house, and slew everyone they met; 4.315. and for the other multitude, they esteemed it needless to go on with killing them, but they sought for the high priests, and the generality went with the greatest zeal against them; 4.316. and as soon as they caught them they slew them, and then standing upon their dead bodies, in way of jest, upbraided Aus with his kindness to the people, and Jesus with his speech made to them from the wall. 4.317. Nay, they proceeded to that degree of impiety, as to cast away their dead bodies without burial, although the Jews used to take so much care of the burial of men, that they took down those that were condemned and crucified, and buried them before the going down of the sun. 4.318. I should not mistake if I said that the death of Aus was the beginning of the destruction of the city, and that from this very day may be dated the overthrow of her wall, and the ruin of her affairs, whereon they saw their high priest, and the procurer of their preservation, slain in the midst of their city. 4.319. He was on other accounts also a venerable, and a very just man; and besides the grandeur of that nobility, and dignity, and honor of which he was possessed, he had been a lover of a kind of parity, even with regard to the meanest of the people; 4.321. to say all in a word, if Aus had survived, they had certainly compounded matters; for he was a shrewd man in speaking and persuading the people, and had already gotten the mastery of those that opposed his designs, or were for the war. And the Jews had then put abundance of delays in the way of the Romans, if they had had such a general as he was. 4.322. Jesus was also joined with him; and although he was inferior to him upon the comparison, he was superior to the rest; 4.323. and I cannot but think that it was because God had doomed this city to destruction, as a polluted city, and was resolved to purge his sanctuary by fire, that he cut off these their great defenders and wellwishers 4.324. while those that a little before had worn the sacred garments, and had presided over the public worship; and had been esteemed venerable by those that dwelt on the whole habitable earth when they came into our city, were cast out naked, and seen to be the food of dogs and wild beasts. 4.325. And I cannot but imagine that virtue itself groaned at these men’s case, and lamented that she was here so terribly conquered by wickedness. And this at last was the end of Aus and Jesus. 4.336. So they called together, by a public proclamation, seventy of the principal men of the populace, for a show, as if they were real judges, while they had no proper authority. Before these was Zacharias accused of a design to betray their polity to the Romans, and having traitorously sent to Vespasian for that purpose. 4.339. after which he turned his speech to his accusers, and went over distinctly all their transgressions of the law, and made heavy lamentation upon the confusion they had brought public affairs to: 4.562. and imitated not only the ornaments, but also the lusts of women, and were guilty of such intolerable uncleanness, that they invented unlawful pleasures of that sort. And thus did they roll themselves up and down the city, as in a brothel house, and defiled it entirely with their impure actions; 4.563. nay, while their faces looked like the faces of women, they killed with their right hands; and when their gait was effeminate, they presently attacked men, and became warriors, and drew their swords from under their finely dyed cloaks, and ran everybody through whom they alighted upon. 5.17. insomuch that many persons who came thither with great zeal from the ends of the earth, to offer sacrifices at this celebrated place, which was esteemed holy by all mankind, fell down before their own sacrifices themselves, and sprinkled that altar which was venerable among all men, both Greeks and Barbarians, with their own blood; 5.17. The third tower was Mariamne, for that was his queen’s name; it was solid as high as twenty cubits; its breadth and its length were twenty cubits, and were equal to each other; 5.18. till the dead bodies of strangers were mingled together with those of their own country, and those of profane persons with those of the priests, and the blood of all sorts of dead carcasses stood in lakes in the holy courts themselves. 5.18. There were besides many porticoes, one beyond another, round about, and in each of those porticoes curious pillars; yet were all the courts that were exposed to the air everywhere green. 5.19. And now, “O most wretched city, what misery so great as this didst thou suffer from the Romans, when they came to purify thee from thy intestine hatred! For thou couldst be no longer a place fit for God, nor couldst thou long continue in being, after thou hadst been a sepulchre for the bodies of thy own people, and hadst made the holy house itself a burying-place in this civil war of thine. Yet mayst thou again grow better, if perchance thou wilt hereafter appease the anger of that God who is the author of thy destruction.” 5.19. 2. Now, for the works that were above these foundations, these were not unworthy of such foundations; for all the cloisters were double, and the pillars to them belonging were twenty-five cubits in height, and supported the cloisters. These pillars were of one entire stone each of them, and that stone was white marble; 6.98. At these words of his a great sadness and silence were observed among the people. But the tyrant himself cast many reproaches upon Josephus, with imprecations besides; and at last added this withal, that he did never fear the taking of the city, because it was God’s own city. |
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9. New Testament, James, 4.13 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 4.13. Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow let's go into this city, and spend a year there, and trade, and get gain. |
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10. New Testament, Luke, 12.19 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 12.19. I will tell my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat, drink, be merry."' |
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