Anonymous (Septuagint) · a new plain-English translation from the original language
1| Many great things have been given to us through the Law and the Prophets and
2| the others who followed after them, for which it is right
3| to praise Israel for instruction and wisdom; and since not only
4| the readers themselves ought to become knowledgeable, but also those outside should be able —
5| those devoted to learning — to be useful both in speaking and in writing:
6| my grandfather Jesus, having devoted himself over a long span of years to studying the Law and the
7| Prophets and the other ancestral books, and having gained in these a sufficient
8| proficiency, was himself also led to write something belonging to instruction and
9| wisdom, so that those devoted to learning, becoming versed in these as well,
10| might make much greater progress through living according to the law. You are urged, then, with goodwill
11| and attention to undertake the reading, and to have forgiveness for whatever
12| we may seem, despite our diligent labor over the interpretation, to fall short in rendering some of the words;
13| for things spoken in Hebrew do not carry the same force in themselves when
14| turned into another language; and it is not merely these portions, but the Law itself
15| and the Prophecies and the rest of the books show no small difference
16| when rendered in their native tongue. Now in the thirty-eighth year, under
17| King Euergetes, having come to Egypt and spent some time there, I found no
18| small store of learning. I therefore considered it most necessary to bring
19| some diligence and effort of my own to translating this book; for much
20| wakeful care and skill I brought to bear, over that stretch of time,
21| to bring the book at last to completion and have it published, for those living abroad
22| who wished to gain learning, preparing their characters beforehand to live by the law.