Ecclesiasticus 35

How to read these pages: the text itself comes first, verse by verse, in the volume's own translation. Beneath each verse stands its Meaning — a rendering of what the passage's terms name in the inner life, drawn from the correspondences the text itself uses. The text is never altered; the meaning is offered, not imposed.

King James Version

1He that keepeth the law bringeth offerings enough: he that taketh heed to the commandment offereth a peace offering.

He that keeps the law — the written order of the divine life — brings offerings enough: he that takes heed to the commandment, a specific articulation of that order, offers a peace offering, a faculty yielded in communion and gratitude.

2He that requiteth a good turn offereth fine flour; and he that giveth alms sacrificeth praise.

He that repays a good turn offers fine flour — truth-substance in its finest form; and he that gives alms sacrifices praise — Praise, Judah's own offering, yielded to the Source.

3To depart from wickedness is a thing pleasing to the Lord; and to forsake unrighteousness is a propitiation.

To depart from wickedness — the state twisted away from the order — is a thing pleasing to the indwelling LORD; and to forsake unrighteousness, life out of right relation, is a propitiation, an at-one-ment.

4Thou shalt not appear empty before the Lord.

Thou shalt not appear empty before the indwelling LORD — no faculty comes before the Presence with nothing yielded.

5For all these things [are to be done] because of the commandment.

For all these things are to be done because of the commandment — because the inner order itself articulates them.

6The offering of the righteous maketh the altar fat, and the sweet savour thereof is before the most High.

The offering of the righteous — the state in right relation to the divine order — makes the altar, the built point of consecration, fat, and the sweet savour thereof rises before the most High, the Source under His highest title.

7The sacrifice of a just man is acceptable, and the memorial thereof shall never be forgotten.

The sacrifice of a just man — a faculty yielded by a state in right relation — is acceptable, and the memorial thereof shall never be forgotten.

8Give the Lord his honour with a good eye, and diminish not the firstfruits of thine hands.

Give the indwelling LORD His honour with a good eye, and diminish not the firstfruits of thine hands — the first tenth and first yield of the faculty's increase.

9In all thy gifts shew a cheerful countenance, and dedicate thy tithes with gladness.

In all thy gifts show a cheerful countenance, and dedicate thy tithes — the first tenth acknowledged to the King-Priest within — with gladness.

10Give unto the most High according as he hath enriched thee; and as thou hast gotten, give with a cheerful eye.

Give unto the most High according as He has enriched thee; and as thou hast gotten, give with a cheerful eye.

11For the Lord recompenseth, and will give thee seven times as much.

For the indwelling LORD recompenses, and will give thee seven times as much — seven, the completeness of a cycle, returned by divine law.

12Do not think to corrupt with gifts; for such he will not receive: and trust not to unrighteous sacrifices; for the Lord is judge, and with him is no respect of persons.

Do not think to corrupt with gifts; for such He will not receive: and trust not to unrighteous sacrifices; for the indwelling LORD is judge, and with Him is no respect of persons — no favouring of one faculty's outward show over another's truth.

13He will not accept any person against a poor man, but will hear the prayer of the oppressed.

He will not accept any person against a poor man — the lowly, lacking state — but will hear the prayer of the oppressed.

14He will not despise the supplication of the fatherless; nor the widow, when she poureth out her complaint.

He will not despise the supplication of the fatherless — the state bereft of its covering thought; nor the widow, the bereft affection, when she pours out her complaint.

15Do not the tears run down the widow’s cheeks? and is not her cry against him that causeth them to fall?

Do not the tears run down the widow's cheeks — the bereft affection's grief made visible? and is not her cry against him that causes them to fall?

16He that serveth the Lord shall be accepted with favour, and his prayer shall reach unto the clouds.

He that serves the indwelling LORD shall be accepted with favour, and his prayer shall reach unto the clouds — unto the gathered thoughts of the higher mind.

17The prayer of the humble pierceth the clouds: and till it come nigh, he will not be comforted; and will not depart, till the most High shall behold to judge righteously, and execute judgment.

The prayer of the humble pierces the clouds: and till it come nigh, he will not be comforted; and will not depart, till the most High shall behold to judge righteously — to set the state in right relation — and execute judgment, the divine order confronting the state.

18For the Lord will not be slack, neither will the Mighty be patient toward them, till he have smitten in sunder the loins of the unmerciful, and repayed vengeance to the heathen; till he have taken away the multitude of the proud, and broken the sceptre of the unrighteous;

For the indwelling LORD will not be slack, neither will the Mighty be patient toward them, till He have smitten in sunder the loins of the unmerciful, and repaid vengeance — the settling of accounts, the state reaping the disorder it chose — to the heathen, the outer nations of sense; till He have taken away the multitude of the proud, and broken the sceptre, the ruling authority, of the unrighteous;

19Till he have rendered to every man according to his deeds, and to the works of men according to their devices; till he have judged the cause of his people, and made them to rejoice in his mercy.

Till He have rendered to every man according to his deeds, and to the works of men according to their devices; till He have judged the cause of His people, and made them to rejoice in His mercy.

20Mercy is seasonable in the time of affliction, as clouds of rain in the time of drought.

Mercy is seasonable in the time of affliction, as clouds of rain in the time of drought — the gathered thoughts releasing the waters of truth upon the parched state.

Companion volume to The Why Bible — the King James Apocrypha, rendered in its spiritual meanings. First final edition, October 2026.