Sirach – Prologue

P:6 For in the time of king Ptolemy Euergetes, in the thirty-eighth year after I had arrived in Egypt, after I had been there for a long time, I found, left behind there, books with a doctrine neither small nor contemptible.
P:7 And so I considered it to be both good and necessary for me to apply some significant diligence and labor in order to translate this book.
P:8 Then, after much attentiveness to doctrine over a length of time, I brought to a close the things being considered, so as to offer this book for those who are willing to apply their mind and to learn how they ought to conduct their way of life,
P:9 for those who have decided to form their life in accord with the law of the Lord.