1. Hebrew Bible, Proverbs, 11.4 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)
| 11.4. לֹא־יוֹעִיל הוֹן בְּיוֹם עֶבְרָה וּצְדָקָה תַּצִּיל מִמָּוֶת׃ | 11.4. Riches profit not in the day of wrath; But righteousness delivereth from death." |
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2. Hebrew Bible, Jeremiah, 17.11, 22.13 (8th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
| 17.11. קֹרֵא דָגַר וְלֹא יָלָד עֹשֶׂה עֹשֶׁר וְלֹא בְמִשְׁפָּט בַּחֲצִי ימו [יָמָיו] יַעַזְבֶנּוּ וּבְאַחֲרִיתוֹ יִהְיֶה נָבָל׃ 22.13. הוֹי בֹּנֶה בֵיתוֹ בְּלֹא־צֶדֶק וַעֲלִיּוֹתָיו בְּלֹא מִשְׁפָּט בְּרֵעֵהוּ יַעֲבֹד חִנָּם וּפֹעֲלוֹ לֹא יִתֶּן־לוֹ׃ | 17.11. As the partridge that broodeth over young which she hath not brought forth, So is he that getteth riches, and not by right; In the midst of his days he shall leave them, And at his end he shall be a fool." 22.13. Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, And his chambers by injustice; That useth his neighbour’s service without wages, And giveth him not his hire;" |
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3. Anon., 1 Enoch, 91.13, 94.6-95.2, 94.8, 95.7, 96.5, 96.8, 97.1, 97.7, 97.8, 97.9, 98.2, 98.3, 100.2, 100.6, 101.3, 101.5, 101.7, 101.9, 102.3, 102.6, 102.7, 102.8 (3rd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 100.2. For a man shall not withhold his hand from slaying his sons and his sons' sons, And the sinner shall not withhold his hand from his honoured brother: From dawn till sunset they shall slay one another. |
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4. Septuagint, Ecclesiasticus (Siracides), 3.30, 4.8, 5.1, 10.30-10.31, 11.14, 13.24, 17.22, 18.25, 29.12, 40.17-40.18, 40.24 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 4.8. Incline your ear to the poor,and answer him peaceably and gently. 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. 10.31. A man honored in poverty, how much more in wealth!And a man dishonored in wealth, how much more in poverty!Sir.11 10.31. for he lies in wait, turning good into evil,and to worthy actions he will attach blame. 13.24. Riches are good if they are free from sin,and poverty is evil in the opinion of the ungodly. 17.22. A mans almsgiving is like a signet with the Lord and he will keep a persons kindness like the apple of his eye. 18.25. In the time of plenty think of the time of hunger;in the days of wealth think of poverty and need. 29.12. Store up almsgiving in your treasury,and it will rescue you from all affliction; 40.17. Kindness is like a garden of blessings,and almsgiving endures for ever. 40.18. Life is sweet for the self-reliant and the worker,but he who finds treasure is better off than both. 40.24. Brothers and help are for a time of trouble,but almsgiving rescues better than both. |
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5. Septuagint, Wisdom of Solomon, 2.6-2.20, 3.1-3.6, 3.12-3.13, 3.16, 4.11-4.12, 5.15-5.16, 14.6-14.13 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
| 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. 3.1. But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God,and no torment will ever touch them. 3.2. In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died,and their departure was thought to be an affliction 3.3. and their going from us to be their destruction;but they are at peace. 3.4. For though in the sight of men they were punished,their hope is full of immortality. 3.5. Having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good,because God tested them and found them worthy of himself; 3.6. like gold in the furnace he tried them,and like a sacrificial burnt offering he accepted them. 3.12. Their wives are foolish, and their children evil; 3.13. their offspring are accursed. For blessed is the barren woman who is undefiled,who has not entered into a sinful union;she will have fruit when God examines souls. 3.16. But children of adulterers will not come to maturity,and the offspring of an unlawful union will perish. 4.11. He was caught up lest evil change his understanding or guile deceive his soul. 4.12. For the fascination of wickedness obscures what is good,and roving desire perverts the innocent mind. 5.15. But the righteous live for ever,and their reward is with the Lord;the Most High takes care of them. 5.16. Therefore they will receive a glorious crown and a beautiful diadem from the hand of the Lord,because with his right hand he will cover them,and with his arm he will shield them. 14.6. For even in the beginning, when arrogant giants were perishing,the hope of the world took refuge on a raft,and guided by thy hand left to the world the seed of a new generation. 14.7. For blessed is the wood by which righteousness comes. 14.8. But the idol made with hands is accursed, and so is he who made it;because he did the work, and the perishable thing was named a god. 14.11. Therefore there will be a visitation also upon the heathen idols,because, though part of what God created, they became an abomination,and became traps for the souls of men and a snare to the feet of the foolish. 14.12. For the idea of making idols was the beginning of fornication,and the invention of them was the corruption of life 14.13. for neither have they existed from the beginning nor will they exist for ever. |
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6. Horace, Sermones, 1.1 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
| 1.1. 1. I suppose that, by my books of the Antiquities of the Jews, most excellent Epaphroditus, I have made it evident to those who peruse them, that our Jewish nation is of very great antiquity, and had a distinct subsistence of its own originally; as also I have therein declared how we came to inhabit this country wherein we now live. Those Antiquities contain the history of five thousand years, and are taken out of our sacred books; but are translated by me into the Greek tongue. 1.1. but as for the place where the Grecians inhabit, ten thousand destructions have overtaken it, and blotted out the memory of former actions; so that they were ever beginning a new way of living, and supposed that every one of them was the origin of their new state. It was also late, and with difficulty, that they came to know the letters they now use; for those who would advance their use of these letters to the greatest antiquity pretend that they learned them from the Phoenicians and from Cadmus; 1.1. but after some considerable time, Armais, who was left in Egypt, did all those very things, by way of opposition, which his brother had forbidden him to do, without fear; for he used violence to the queen, and continued to make use of the rest of the concubines, without sparing any of them; nay, at the persuasion of his friends he put on the diadem, and set up to oppose his brother; |
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7. Anon., 2 Baruch, 13.11 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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8. New Testament, 1 Timothy, 6.3-6.19 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 6.3. If anyone teaches a different doctrine, and doesn't consent to sound words, the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness 6.4. he is conceited, knowing nothing, but obsessed with arguments, disputes, and word battles, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions 6.5. constant friction of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. Withdraw yourself from such. 6.6. But godliness with contentment is great gain. 6.7. For we brought nothing into the world, and we certainly can't carry anything out. 6.8. But having food and clothing, we will be content with that. 6.9. But those who are determined to be rich fall into a temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful lusts, such as drown men in ruin and destruction. 6.10. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some have been led astray from the faith in their greed, and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows. 6.11. But you, man of God, flee these things, and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, and gentleness. 6.12. Fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you confessed the good confession in the sight of many witnesses. 6.13. I charge you before God, who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate testified the good confession 6.14. that you keep the commandment without spot, blameless, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ; 6.15. which in its own times he will show, who is the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; 6.16. who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light; whom no man has seen, nor can see: to whom be honor and eternal power. Amen. 6.17. Charge those who are rich in this present world that they not be haughty, nor have their hope set on the uncertainty of riches, but on the living God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy; 6.18. that they do good, that they be rich in good works, that they be ready to distribute, willing to communicate; 6.19. laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold of eternal life. |
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9. New Testament, Luke, 12.16-12.21 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 12.16. He spoke a parable to them, saying, "The ground of a certain rich man brought forth abundantly. 12.17. He reasoned within himself, saying, 'What will I do, because I don't have room to store my crops?' 12.18. He said, 'This is what I will do. I will pull down my barns, and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 12.19. I will tell my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat, drink, be merry."' 12.20. But God said to him, 'You foolish one, tonight your soul is required of you. The things which you have prepared -- whose will they be?' 12.21. So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. |
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10. Plutarch, Comparison of Aristides And Cato, 4.4 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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11. Diogenes Laertius, Lives of The Philosophers, 1.59 (3rd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
| 1.59. He used to say that those who had influence with tyrants were like the pebbles employed in calculations; for, as each of the pebbles represented now a large and now a small number, so the tyrants would treat each one of those about them at one time as great and famous, at another as of no account. On being asked why he had not framed any law against parricide, he replied that he hoped it was unnecessary. Asked how crime could most effectually be diminished, he replied, If it caused as much resentment in those who are not its victims as in those who are, adding, Wealth breeds satiety, satiety outrage. He required the Athenians to adopt a lunar month. He prohibited Thespis from performing tragedies on the ground that fiction was pernicious. |
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12. Pseudo-Phocylides, The Sentences of Pseudo-Phocylides, 62
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