The second prayseth the excellencie of a king: 13. The third (which is
Zorobabel) commendeth wemen: 33. but preferreth truth aboue al.
41. VVhich is so approued, and he is rewarded. 42. The king moreouer at
his request restoreth the holie vessels of the temple, and granteth
meanes to build the citie of Ierusalem, and the temple.
AND the next began to speake, he that spake of the strength of a king.
2 O ye men doe not the men excel, which obteyne land and sea, and al
thinges that are in them? 3 But a king excelleth aboue al thinges, and
hath dominion ouer them: and euerie thing whatsoeuer he shal say to
them, they doe. 4 And if he send them to warryers, they goe, and throw
downe mountaines, and the walles, and towers. 5 They kil, and are
killed: and the kinges word they transgresse not. For if they shal
ouercome, they bring to the king al thinges whatsoeuer they haue taken
for a praye. 6 In like maner also al others, for so many as are not
souldiars, nor fight, but til the ground: when they shal reape, againe
they bring tributes to the king. 7 And he being one onlie if he say:
Kil ye, they kil: say he: forgeue, the forgeue. 8 say he: strike:
they strike: say he, destroy, they destroy: say he build, they build.
9 say he, cut downe, they cut downe, say he plant, they plant: 10 and al
the people, & potestates here him, and beside this he sitteth downe, and
drinketh, and sleepeth. 11 And others gard him round about, and can not
goe euerie one, and doe their owne workes, but at a word are obedient to
him. 12 O ye men, how doth not a king excel that is so renowmed? And he
held his peace. 13 The third that spake of wemen and truth, this is
Zorobabel, began to speake. 14 O ye men, not the great king, & many men,
neither is it wine that dothe excel. Who is it then that hath the
dominion of them? 15 Haue not wemen brought forth the king, and al the
people, that ruleth ouer land & sea: 16 and were they not borne of them,
and did not they bring vp them which planted the vineyardes, whereof wine
is made? 17 And they make the garmentes of al men, & they doe honor to
al men, and men can not be separed from wemen. 18 If they haue gathered
gold and siluer, and euerie beutiful thing, & see a woman comelie and
fayre, 19 leauing al these thinges they fixe their looke vpon her, & with
open mouth beholde her, and allure her more then gold and siluer, and
euerie precious thing. 20 Man forsaketh his father that brought him vp,
and his countrie, and ioyneth himself to a woman. 21 And with a woman he
refresheth his soul: and neither doth he remember father, nor mother,
nor countrie. 22 And hereby you must know that wemen rule ouer you. Are
you not sorie? 23 And a man taketh his sword, & goeth into the way to
commit theftes and murders, & to sayle seas & riuers, 24 and seeth a
lyon, and goeth in darkenes: and when he hath committed theft, and
fraude, and spoyles, he bringeth it to his beloued. 25 And againe, man
loueth his wife more then father or mother. 26 And many haue become
madde for their wiues: and haue been made bondmen for them: 27 and many
haue perished and bene slayne, and haue sinned for wemen. 28 And now
beleue me, that the king is great in his powre: because al countries are
afrayd to touch him. 29 Neuertheles I saw Apemes the daughter of Bezaces
the concubine of a meruelous king, sitting by the king at his right hand,
30 and taking of the crowne from his head, and putting it vpon her self,
and with the palme of her left hand she stroke the king. 31 And beside
these thinges he with open mouth beheld her: and if she smiled he
laugheth, and if she be angrie with him, he flattereth, til he be
reconciled to her fauour. 32 O ye men, why are not wemen stronger?
Great is the earth, and high is the heauen: who doeth these thinges?
33 And then the king and they that weare purple looked one vpon an other.
And he began to speake of truth. 34 O ye men, are not wemen strong? The
earth is great and heauen is high: & the swift course of the sunne
turneth the heauen round into his place in one day. 35 Is not he
magnifical that doth these thinges, and the truth great, and stronger
aboue al thinges? 36 Al the earth calleth vpon the truth, heauen also
blesseth it, and al workes are moued, and tremble at it, and there is not
any thing with it vniust. 37 Wine is vniust, the king is vniust, wemen
are vniust, al the sonnes of men are vniust, and al their workes are
vniust, and in them is not truth, and they shal perish in their
iniquitie: 38 and truth abydeth, and groweth strong for euer, and
liueth, and preuayleth for euer and euer. 39 Neither is there with it
acception of persons, nor differences: but the thinges that are iust it
doth to al men, to the vniust and malignant, and al men are wel pleased
in the workes thereof. 40 And there is no vniust thing in the iudgement
therof, but strength, and reigne, and power, and maiestie of worldes.
Blessed be the God of truth. 41 And he left speaking. And al the people
cryed, and sayd: Great is truth and it preuaileth. 42 Then the king
sayd to him: Aske, if thou wilt any more, then the thinges that are
writen, and I wil geue it thee, according as thou art found wiser then
thy neighbours, & thou shalt sitte next to me, and shalt be called my
cosin. 43 Then sayd he to the king: Be midful of thy vow, which thou
hast vowed, to build Ierusalem in the day that thou didst receiue the
kingdom: 44 and to send backe al the vessels that were taken out of
Ierusalem, which Cyrus separated, when he sacked Babylon, and would haue
sent them backe thither. 45 And thou hast vowed to build the temple,
which the Idumeians burnt, when Iurie was destroyed of the Chaldees.
46 And now this is that which I aske Lord, & which I desire, this is the
maiestie which I desire of thee, that thou performe the vowe which thou
hast vowed to the king of heauen by thy mouth. 47 Then Darius the king
rising vp, kissed him: and wrote letters to al the officers, and
ouerseers, and them that weare purple, that they should conduct him, and
them that were with him, al going vp to build Ierusalem. 48 And to al
the ouerseers that were in Syria, and Phoenice, and Libanus he wrote
letters, that they should draw Ceder trees from Libanus into Ierusalem,
to build the citie with them. 49 And he wrote to al the Iewes which went
vp from the kingdome into Iurie for libertie, euerie mightie man, &
magistrate, & ouerseer not to come vpon them to their gates, 50 and al
the countrie which they had obtayned to be free vnto them, & that the
Idumeians leaue the castels which they possesse of the Iewes, 51 and to
the building of the temple to geue euerie yeare twentie talentes vntil it
were throughly built: 52 & vpon the altars to burne holocausts dayly, as
they haue commandment: to offer other ten talentes euery yeare, 53 & to
al that go forth from Babylon to build the citie, that there should be
libertie as wel to them as to their children, and to al the priestes that
goe before. 54 And he wrote a quantitie also, and commanded the sacred
stole to be geuen, wherein they should serue; 55 and to the Leuites he
wrote to geue preceptes, vntil the day wherein the house shal be
finished, and Ierusalem builded. 56 And to al that kepe the citie, he
wrote portions and wages to be geuen to them. 57 And he sent away al the
vessels whatsoeuer Cyrus had separated from Babylon, and al thinges
whatsoeuer Cyrus sayd, he also commanded to be donne, and to be sent to
Ierusalem. 58 And when that yong man was gone forth, lyfting vp his face
toward Ierusalem, he blessed the king of heauen, 59 & sayd: Of thee is
victorie, and of thee is wisdome, and glorie. And I am thy seruant.
60 Blessed art thou which hast geuen me wisedom, and I wil confesse to
thee Lord God of our fathers. 61 And he toke the letters, and went into
Babylon. And he came, and told al his brethren that were in Babylon:
62 and they blessed the God of their fathers, because he gaue them
remission and refreshing, 63 that they should goe vp and build Ierusalem,
and the temple wherein his name was renowmed, and they reioyced with
musike and ioy seuen dayes.