Sirach 15

(Sir 15:11)  Do not say, "Because of the ETERNAL I left the right way"; for he will not do what he hates.

(Sir 15:12)  Do not say, "It was he who led me astray"; for he had no need of a sinful man.

(Sir 15:13)  The ETERNAL hates all abominations, and they are not loved by those who fear him.

(Sir 15:14)  It was he who created man in the beginning, and he left him in the power of his own inclination.

(Sir 15:15)  If you will, you can keep the commandments, and to act faithfully is a matter of your own choice.

(Sir 15:16)  He has placed before you fire and water: stretch out your hand for whichever you wish.

(Sir 15:17)  Before a man are life and death, and whichever he chooses will be given to him.

(Sir 15:18)  For great is the wisdom of the ETERNAL; he is mighty in power and sees everything;

(Sir 15:19)  his eyes are on those who fear him, and he knows every deed of man.

(Sir 15:20)  He has not commanded any one to be unrighteous, and he has not given anyone  permission to sin.

(Sir 11:14)  Good things and bad, life and death, poverty and wealth, come from the ETERNAL.

(Sir 11:17)  The gift of the ETERNAL endures for those who are righteous, and what he approves will have lasting success.

(Sir 11:18)  There is a man who is rich through his diligence and self-denial, and this is the reward allotted to him:

(Sir 11:19)  when he says, "I have found rest, and now I shall enjoy my goods!" he does not know how much time will pass until he leaves them to others and dies.

(Sir 11:20)  Stand by your covenant and attend to it, and grow old in your work.

(Sir 11:21)  Do not wonder at the works of a sinner, but trust in the ETERNAL and keep at your toil; for it is easy in the sight of the ETERNAL to enrich a poor man quickly and suddenly.

(Sir 11:22)  The favor of the ETERNAL is the reward of the righteous, and quickly God causes his favor to flourish.

(Sir 11:23)  Do not say, "What do I need, and what prosperity could be mine in the future?"

(Sir 11:24)  Do not say, "I have enough, and what calamity could happen to me in the future?"

(Sir 11:25)  In the day of prosperity, adversity is forgotten, and in the day of adversity, prosperity is not remembered.

(Sir 11:26)  For it is easy in the sight of the ETERNAL to reward a man on the day of death according to his conduct.

(Psa 34:15)  The eyes of the ETERNAL are toward the righteous, and his ears toward their cry.

(Psa 34:16)  The face of the ETERNAL is against evildoers, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.

(Psa 34:17)  When the righteous cry for help, the ETERNAL hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles.

Psalm Verse 15 - Ayin = the eye, to see, perceive, understand. The eyes of your understanding being opened, so that you understand. Compare Gen 3:7

Gen 3:7  Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons.

Ayin is number 70 in Hebrew - 70 being the number of years of captivity spoken of in Jer. 25:11 & 29:10

Verse 16 - Pey = the mouth, to speak, a word. A confession of sin made with the mouth.

Pey is number 80 in Hebrew. Double 40 years of wondering in the wilderness.

Verse 17 - Tsade = a fish hook. We are in the age of water - Hebrew Mem = Mayim. One with a hook pulls us out of the water/world onto a sure foundation, after we Pey/Confess our sins the ETERNAL hears and rescues. Moshiach called us to be "Fishers of Men."

Let's look at an example of the ETERNAL proving that He rescues the Upright!

Jeremiah writes the scroll and Baruch reads it to the King.

(Jer 36:1)  In the fourth year of Jehoi'akim the son of Josi'ah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the ETERNAL:

(Jer 36:2)  "Take a scroll and write on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel and Judah and all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josi'ah until today.

(Jer 36:3)  It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I intend to do to them, so that every one may turn from his evil way, and that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin."

(Jer 36:4)  Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neri'ah, and Baruch wrote upon a scroll at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the ETERNAL which he had spoken to him.

Jeremiah is arrested.

(Jer 37:11)  Now when the Chalde'an army had withdrawn from Jerusalem at the approach of Pharaoh's army,

(Jer 37:12)  Jeremiah set out from Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin to receive his portion there among the people.

(Jer 37:13)  When he was at the Benjamin Gate, a sentry there named Iri'jah the son of Shelemi'ah, son of Hanani'ah, seized Jeremiah the prophet, saying, "You are deserting to the Chalde'ans."

(Jer 37:14)  And Jeremiah said, "It is false; I am not deserting to the Chalde'ans." But Iri'jah would not listen to him, and seized Jeremiah and brought him to the princes.

(Jer 37:15)  And the princes were enraged at Jeremiah, and they beat him and imprisoned him in the house of Jonathan the secretary, for it had been made a prison.

(Jer 37:16)  When Jeremiah had come to the dungeon cells, and remained there many days,

Jeremiah is put into a prison which is a well - a water source from within the earth/world(ly)= mayim.

(Jer 38:4)  Then the princes said to the king, "Let this man be put to death, for he is weakening the hands of the soldiers who are left in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking such words to them. For this man is not seeking the welfare of this people, but their harm."

(Jer 38:5)  King Zedeki'ah said, "Behold, he is in your hands; for the king can do nothing against you."

(Jer 38:6)  So they took Jeremiah and cast him into the cistern of Malchi'ah, the king's son, which was in the court of the guard, letting Jeremiah down by ropes. And there was no water in the cistern, but only mire, and Jeremiah sank in the mire.

Eved-Melech = The King's Servant is sent to rescue Jeremiah.

(Jer 38:7)  When E'bed-mel'ech the Ethiopian, a eunuch, who was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern--the king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate--

(Jer 38:8)  E'bed-mel'ech went from the king's house and said to the king,

(Jer 38:9)  "My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they did to Jeremiah the prophet by casting him into the cistern; and he will die there of hunger, for there is no bread left in the city."

(Jer 38:10)  Then the king commanded E'bed-mel'ech, the Ethiopian, "Take three men with you from here, and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies."

(Jer 38:11)  So E'bed-mel'ech took the men with him and went to the house of the king, to a wardrobe of the storehouse, and took from there old rags and worn-out clothes, which he let down to Jeremiah in the cistern by ropes.

(Jer 38:12)  Then E'bed-mel'ech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, "Put the rags and clothes between your armpits and the ropes." Jeremiah did so.

(Jer 38:13)  Then they drew Jeremiah up with ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.

Eved-Melech receives a prophecy from the ETERNAL because of his obedience to rescue Jeremiah.

(Jer 39:15)  The word of the ETERNAL came to Jeremiah while he was shut up in the court of the guard:

(Jer 39:16)  "Go, and say to E'bed-mel'ech the Ethiopian, 'Thus says the ETERNAL of hosts, the Sovereign of Yeshurun: Behold, I will fulfil my words against this city for evil and not for good, and they shall be accomplished before you on that day.

(Jer 39:17)  But I will deliver you on that day, says the ETERNAL, and you shall not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid.

(Jer 39:18)  For I will surely save you, and you shall not fall by the sword; but you shall have your life as a prize of war, because you have put your trust in me, says the ETERNAL.'"

Now, the prophecy for Baruch, the faithful servant of Jeremiah.

(Jer 45:1)  The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Neri'ah, when he wrote these words in a book at the dictation of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoi'akim the son of Josi'ah, king of Judah:

(Jer 45:2)  "Thus says the ETERNAL, the Sovereign of Yeshurun, to you, O Baruch:

(Jer 45:3)  You said, 'Woe is me! for the ETERNAL has added sorrow to my pain; I am weary with my groaning, and I find no rest.'

(Jer 45:4)  Thus shall you say to him, Thus says the ETERNAL: Behold, what I have built I am breaking down, and what I have planted I am plucking up--that is, the whole land.

(Jer 45:5)  And do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not; for, behold, I am bringing evil upon all flesh, says the ETERNAL; but I will give you your life as a prize of war in all places to which you may go."

Read the confession of Baruch in Babylon's captivity.

(Bar 1:15)  "And you shall say: 'Righteousness belongs to the ETERNAL our Sovereign, but confusion of face, as at this day, to us, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem,

(Bar 1:16)  and to our kings and our princes and our priests and our prophets and our fathers,

(Bar 1:17)  because we have sinned before the ETERNAL,

(Bar 1:18)  and have disobeyed him, and have not heeded the voice of the ETERNAL our Sovereign, to walk in the statutes of the ETERNAL which he set before us.

(Bar 1:19)  From the day when the ETERNAL brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt until today, we have been disobedient to the ETERNAL our Sovereign, and we have been negligent, in not heeding his voice.

(Bar 1:20)  So to this day there have clung to us the calamities and the curse which the ETERNAL declared through Moses his servant at the time when he brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt to give to us a land flowing with milk and honey.

(Bar 1:21)  We did not heed the voice of the ETERNAL our Sovereign in all the words of the prophets whom he sent to us, but we each followed the intent of his own wicked heart by serving other gods and doing what is evil in the sight of the ETERNAL our Sovereign.

(Bar 2:11)  "'And now, O ETERNAL Sovereign of Yeshurun, who didst bring thy people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and with signs and wonders and with great power and outstretched arm, and hast made thee a name, as at this day,

(Bar 2:12)  we have sinned, we have been unrighteous, we have done wrong, O ETERNAL  our Sovereign, against all thy ordinances.

(Bar 2:13)  Let thy anger turn away from us, for we are left, few in number, among the nations where thou hast scattered us.

(Bar 2:14)  Hear, O ETERNAL , our prayer and our supplication, and for thy own sake deliver us, and grant us favor in the sight of those who have carried us into exile;

(Bar 2:15)  that all the earth may know that thou art the ETERNAL our Sovereign, for Israel and his descendants are called by thy name.

(Bar 2:16)  O ETERNAL , look down from thy holy habitation, and consider us. Incline thy ear, O ETERNAL , and hear;

(Bar 2:17)  open thy eyes, O ETERNAL , and see; for the dead who are in Hades, whose spirit has been taken from their bodies, will not ascribe glory or justice to the ETERNAL,

(Bar 2:18)  but the person that is greatly distressed, that goes about bent over and feeble, and the eyes that are failing, and the person that hungers, will ascribe to thee glory and righteousness, O ETERNAL .

(Bar 3:1)  "'O ETERNAL  Almighty, Sovereign of Yeshurun, the soul in anguish and the wearied spirit cry out to thee.

(Bar 3:2)  Hear, O ETERNAL , and have mercy, for we have sinned before thee.

(Bar 3:3)  For thou art enthroned for ever, and we are perishing for ever.

(Bar 3:4)  O ETERNAL  Almighty, Sovereign of Yeshurun, hear now the prayer of the dead of Israel and of the sons of those who sinned before thee, who did not heed the voice of the ETERNAL their God, so that calamities have clung to us.

(Bar 3:5)  Remember not the iniquities of our fathers, but in this crisis remember thy power and thy name.

(Bar 3:6)  For thou art the ETERNAL our Sovereign, and thee, O ETERNAL , will we praise.

(Bar 3:7)  For thou hast put the fear of thee in our hearts in order that we should call upon thy name; and we will praise thee in our exile, for we have put away from our hearts all the iniquity of our fathers who sinned before thee.

Praise Ahayeh that we will surely be accused of wrong-doing because the people don't want to hear the truth of the Torah that we share. They will put us in bonds and make false claims concerning us, just as they did to Jeremiah. What was his crime? He spoke the Torah of the ETERNAL and was faithful to his Creator. In these times  the ETERNAL will rescue us - the upright.