translated by W. H. Bennett, in R. H. Charles's Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament (1913)

In the Greek and Latin versions of the book of Daniel, a passage is inserted into chapter 3 that has no counterpart in the Hebrew and Aramaic text: between the moment the three young men are bound and thrown into Nebuchadnezzar's furnace and the moment the king finds them walking unharmed inside it, they are given voice. First Azariah stands and prays alone, confessing Israel's sins and pleading for deliverance in the nation's darkest hour. Then, once the angel of the Lord has beaten back the flame, all three together burst into a long hymn of praise, calling on every part of creation — sun, stars, frost, sea-monsters, birds, and finally their fellow human beings — to bless the Lord. Verses 35–65 of that hymn survive in Christian worship to this day as the Benedicite, a canticle of the Anglican Morning Prayer service. What follows is the prayer and the song entire, in the 1913 translation of W. H. Bennett.

Introductory Note (1913, W. H. Bennett)

§ 1. Short Account of the Book

The subject of this introduction is not really a "book"; it is sometimes known as the "First Addition" to the canonical Book of Daniel. It is an illustrative interpolation inserted in that book after iii. 23, and is found there, forming an integral part of the book, in Theodotion, the LXX, Vulgate, and some other versions dependent on the LXX. It is absent from the Aramaic text.

It consists of four parts:

(a) Verses 1, 2. An introductory verse or verses connecting it with the narrative. This introduction occurs in two different forms in the LXX and in Theodotion.

(b) Verses 3–22. A "Prayer" ascribed to Azariah, one of the "Three Children" who were thrown into the fiery furnace. This "Prayer" begins with praise to God (3) and an acknowledgement of His justice (4), especially in the judgement executed upon Israel (5–10). There follows a prayer for deliverance, for His Name's sake (11); because of His promise to the Patriarchs (12, 13); because of their great sufferings and true repentance (14–19). The Prayer concludes with an appeal for deliverance, for the punishment of the enemies of Israel, and for the world-wide manifestation of the glory of God (20–22).

(c) Verses 23–27. A narrative as to the further heating of the furnace, the burning up of the Chaldeans round about, and the descent of the Angel of the Lord into the furnace to protect the "Three Children".

(d) Verses 28–68. The Song of the Three Children, with an introductory verse. The Song is an ascription of praise to God, in which all His creatures, animate and inanimate, are called upon to glorify Him.

Verses 35–65 have the same refrain, "Sing His praise and highly exalt Him for ever," slightly varied in verse 52. These verses form the Benedicite.

§ 2. Title of the Book

Just as this "Addition" is not really a book, so originally, being merely a section of the Greek Daniel, it had no separate title. Thus Swete says, "In the Greek MSS. no break or separate title divides these Greek additions from the rest of the text." But the Alexandrine MS. gives the Prayer and the Song under the titles "Prayer of Azarias" and "Hymn of our Father" as two of the fourteen hymns which it inserts as an appendix to the Psalter. Other MSS. head the Song "Hymn of the Three Children". The Vulgate inserts after Dan. iii. 23 the note Quae sequuntur in Hebraeis voluminibus non reperi ("What follows I have not found in the Hebrew volumes"). Then follows our "Addition", and then another note, Hucusque in Hebraeo non habetur; quae posuimus de Theodotionis editione translata sunt ("Thus far it is not contained in the Hebrew; what we have added is translated from Theodotion's edition").

Lagarde, in his edition of the Syriac version of the Apocrypha, gives the heading "Prayer of Hananiah and his companions" from one manuscript, and from Walton (literally) "Prayer of the House of Hananiah"; the meaning of the latter phrase being the same as the former.

In the A.V. and R.V. the whole "Addition" is placed under the title "The Song of the Three Holy Children", with a note that it follows in the third chapter of Daniel after the words "fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace" (verse 23), and that what follows is not in the Hebrew, down to the words "Then Nebuchadnezzar" (verse 24). In the Prayer Book, verses 35–65 form one of the canticles of the Morning Service, the opening words of the Latin version, Benedicite, omnia opera, being used as a title.

§ 3. The Manuscripts

The LXX version of Daniel was almost universally displaced at an early date by that of Theodotion, made in the first half of the second century A.D. The English versions are made from Theodotion.

The manuscripts may be classified thus:

Manuscripts of Theodotion's Version. A. Codex Alexandrinus contains the whole "Addition" as part of Daniel and also the Prayer and Song as two of the Canticles. B. Codex Vaticanus. V. Codex Venetus. Q. Codex Marchalianus, a complete copy of the Prophets preserved in the Vatican Library, written in Egypt not later than the sixth century; its margins supply copious extracts from the various Greek versions. Γ. Codex Cryptoferratensis, in the Basilian Monastery of Grotta Ferrata, a volume consisting partly of palimpsest leaves of an uncial manuscript of the Prophets of the eighth or ninth century, available for portions of Daniel i, iii, vii, ix, and xii. R. Psalterium Graeco-Latinum Veronense, a bilingual Psalter of Western origin attributed to the sixth century, the property of the Chapter of Verona, which includes the Song as one of eight canticles supplementary to the Psalter. T. Psalterium Purpureum Turicense, a Western uncial ascribed by Tischendorf to the seventh century, containing the Psalter followed by canticles, including the Prayer and the Song (verses 14–19 are wanting); it is in the municipal library of Zurich. Swete further enumerates a large number of cursive manuscripts of, or including, Daniel.

Manuscript of the LXX. This version is only extant in the cursive manuscript numbered 87, the Codex Chisianus, in the library of the Chigi family at Rome. It contains Jeremiah, Baruch, Lamentations, the Epistle of Jeremiah, the LXX Daniel, Hippolytus on Daniel, Theodotion's Daniel, Ezekiel, and Isaiah. It is usually assigned to the ninth century.

§ 4. The Ancient Versions

(a) The Old Latin of Daniel is extant in various fragments and patristic quotations. These show that the version included our "Addition". F. C. Burkitt's investigations seem to point to the conclusion that before the time of Jerome there were current Latin versions of both the LXX Daniel and Theodotion's Daniel.

(b) The Vulgate of Daniel is made from Theodotion, and includes the additions.

(c) The Peshitta Syriac. Swete states that "from the first the Peshitta seems to have included the non-canonical books of the Alexandrian Bible except 1 Esdras and Tobit." The version is made from Theodotion, but differs considerably from both Theodotion and the LXX, probably through corruption and free handling.

(d) The Syro-Hexaplaric Version is a literal version of the LXX column of Origen's Hexapla, and supplements the testimony of Codex Chisianus as to the text of the LXX.

(e) A Syriac version of Daniel and other books by Jacob of Edessa (A.D. 704–5) exists in manuscripts at London and Paris, but only specimens have been printed.

(f) Egyptian Versions: the Bohairic Coptic, based on Theodotion but influenced by the LXX, and the Sahidic.

(g) The Ethiopic Version, based on Theodotion.

(h) The Arabic Version, based on Theodotion.

(i) The Armenian Version, from the text of Theodotion.

§ 5. Original Language

This problem might seem to belong to the realm of pure scholarship, but it is involved in the controversy between the Protestant Churches and Rome as to the canonicity of the Apocrypha. Protestant divines have been inclined to regard original composition in Hebrew as one mark of canonicity, though they have never formulated any rigid doctrine to that effect.

According to Rothstein, most Protestant scholars since Eichhorn, including Fritzsche, Schürer, König, Cornill, and Strack, have decided for Greek as the original language, while Catholic scholars have held that the "Addition" was written in Hebrew. But some Protestant scholars have also taken this view, e.g. Delitzsch, Zöckler, Bissell, Ball, Vatke, and Reuss. Further, Rothstein himself is inclined to accept a Hebrew original.

Bissell's statement that "the majority of critics of all schools have always held to the opinion that this composition was originally written in the Hebrew or Aramaic language" is too sweeping, but perhaps on the whole the balance of authority inclines that way. The theory of a Hebrew original is also favoured by J. T. Marshall: "The evidence for a Hebrew original is not irresistible, but probable"; Kamphausen states that it cannot be conclusively proved that the "Additions" were written in Greek; J. E. H. Thomson argues for a Hebrew or Aramaic original; Swete writes, "The addition to Dan. iii. 23 is clearly midrashic, and probably had a Semitic original."

The present writer is clear that there was a Hebrew original probably for the bulk of our "Addition", and certainly for the Prayer of Azariah. It must not, of course, be overlooked that various considerations, partly drawn from the study of the newly discovered papyri, reduce the force of much evidence which would prima facie point to a Hebrew original. Idioms and words supposed to be Hebraisms or Aramaisms seem to belong to ordinary Hellenistic Greek, unless the Jewish population of some districts gave a Semitic flavour to the local dialect. Moreover, it is always possible that if a Jewish author were more familiar with Aramaic and Hebrew than with Greek, or were soaked in the language of the LXX and had read nothing else in Greek, he might write original Greek as if he were translating from Hebrew. These considerations have been borne in mind, and due weight given to them; they lessen, but do not destroy, the force of the general arguments advanced, and there are specific items of evidence which are not affected by them. The conflicting views of various scholars show that there is not obviously an overwhelmingly strong case for either view.

Allowing for a very little editing or corruption of the text, there is not much that could not have been written in Hellenistic Greek, and nothing which could not have been translated from Hebrew. The present writer admits that, as he is mainly interested in the Old Testament, he may have some slight bias in favour of a Hebrew original, but he believes that he has made due allowance for his personal equation. In studying the "Addition" for the purposes of this work, he has felt that for the most part the Greek goes into Hebrew of its own accord, and many passages are most easily understood as unidiomatic renderings of a Hebrew original. The vocabulary is almost entirely confined to that of the LXX.

Moreover, some little weight may be given to the argument that a pre-Christian Jew would compose prayers and hymns in Hebrew rather than in Greek, Hebrew being the language of devotion. Thus Reuss maintains that a Jew in prayer could only think in Hebrew. But if our "Addition" was originally composed to supplement a Greek Daniel, it would naturally be written in Greek. We do not think it was so composed, partly because of other evidence of a Hebrew original, but were such evidence entirely lacking, the use of Greek might thus be explained by the purpose for which the passages were written.

It must, however, be admitted that, with a very few exceptions, the different texts and versions do not present the kind of variations which would arise from the independent use of a Hebrew or Aramaic text. Theodotion and the LXX are so similar that they are clearly texts of the same Greek original. It is true that the Peshitta Syriac has some striking differences from both of them, so that Thomson maintains that "the Syriac could not have been made from the Greek, nor the Greek from the Syriac; they must have had a common source," probably Hebrew. We think, however, that the history of the Peshitta version of our "Addition" makes this unlikely. A Syriac translator some centuries after Christ would hardly have known or used a copy of the Hebrew original. The variations of the Peshitta are probably due to a tendency to paraphrase.

When we turn to detail, it is desirable to examine separately the Prayer, the Song, and the narrative verses.

Taking first the Prayer of Azariah: in verse 4, "all thy judgements truth" uses the substantive for the adjective, a familiar Hebrew idiom, similarly "judgements of truth" in verse 5. In verse 6, "we have dealt lawlessly in departing from thee" represents a familiar Hebrew use of the dependent infinitive for "we have lawlessly departed from thee." In verse 9, the peculiar Greek word rendered "forsakers of God" is most easily understood as a rendering of the Hebrew for "rebels." In verse 14, "low in all the world," where we might expect "lowest" or "lower than all," is often explained as due to the confusion of two similar Hebrew letters. In verse 16, "humble spirit," literally "spirit of lowliness," is a familiar Hebrew idiom. In verse 17, "wholly go after thee," literally "be complete after thee," is a literal rendering of a Hebrew phrase found in Joshua in the sense of "follow with perfect obedience and fidelity"; this instance is conclusive, since the LXX does not render the underlying phrase the same way elsewhere, so the Greek here cannot be derived from the LXX of the canonical passages using that idiom. In verse 21, "let them be brought to shame and deprived of all their dominion" makes much better sense if taken as a case of the pregnant use of a Hebrew preposition, comparable to Sirach xxi. 22, which is known to be a translation from Hebrew.

Numerous minor Hebraisms might be cited. It is true that the majority of these, taken individually or to the number of three or four, might be explained away as due to the influence of the LXX or otherwise. But some of them, notably the idiom in verse 17, cannot be thus disposed of; and this fact, together with the concurrence of so many in a few verses, shows that the original language was Hebrew. Aramaic, indeed, would be possible, but much less probable.

The scheme of the Song of the Three Children is so simple that for the most part it might equally well have been written originally in Greek or translated from Hebrew. The predilection for compounds meaning "highly" or "super-" is a matter of taste that may be due to a translator as much as to the original author. But we find Hebraisms in the few places where there is an opportunity for them to occur: the genitive of the substantive is used for an adjective in verse 30, "the name of Thy glory" for "Thy glorious name," and in verse 31, "the temple of Thy holy glory" for "Thy holy and glorious temple." In such cases the balance of probability seems in favour of a Hebrew original.

The Narrative Verses include a good deal of curious Greek, e.g. the phrase for "heating the furnace with naphtha," which might represent a too literal rendering of a Hebrew or Aramaic original. Here too the vocabulary and idiom are largely that of the LXX. On the other hand, there are several touches that do not look like translations from a Semitic original, though these might quite conceivably be somewhat free renderings from Hebrew or Aramaic. On the whole, too, verses 23–27, which connect the Prayer and the Song, seem somewhat rhetorical, and are not so simple and straightforward as the Greek of the narratives which precede and follow the "Addition." Moreover, Theodotion and the LXX differ considerably here. It is possible that we have to do with a Greek expansion of an Aramaic original.

In any case the section or sections originally written in Hebrew or Aramaic were to a certain extent edited after they were translated into Greek.

§ 6. Composition of the Book, Date, Etc.

The "Addition" was not part of the original Book of Daniel. As is shown below, the Prayer of Azariah could not have been composed with reference to the rest of the book. It seems, however, just possible that the "Addition" as a whole was part of the book before it was translated into Greek, but that it was somewhat amplified in the course of translation or afterwards. For the most part the Greek of the "Addition" is very similar to that of the canonical part of the book, and indeed to the LXX of the canonical books generally.

The "Addition" as a whole probably belongs to the first century B.C. It is later than the canonical Daniel, i.e. later than 168 B.C.; the LXX is apparently by the same hand as that of the canonical Daniel, which was probably in existence at the beginning of the Christian Era or somewhat later.

The Prayer of Azariah was not originally composed in reference to the incident of the Three Children. If it had been, it would have been put into the mouth of Hananiah (Shadrach), who always stands first of the Three. Thus the Peshitta heads the "Addition," "Prayer of Hananiah and his companions." There is nothing whatever in the Prayer to connect it with the incident to which it is attached. Moreover a Jew, writing a Prayer for the beginning of the Exile, would hardly have forgotten Jeremiah and Ezekiel, to say nothing of Daniel himself, and spoken of the people as having been without a prophet. On the other hand verse 15, which states that there was neither priest, prophet, nor leader, neither sacrifices nor place for public worship, points to the dark days at the beginning of the Maccabean struggle. Probably, therefore, it was composed by, or in the name of, some unknown Azariah, about 168–170 B.C.

The Song of the Three Children is expressly connected with the incident by verse 66, but probably this was not part of the original Song. The jubilant tone of this poem is in marked contrast to the despondency of the Prayer. The "holy and glorious Temple" and its services seem to be flourishing. Apart from verse 66, it might belong to any prosperous period after the reforms of Ezra and Nehemiah, probably some time after the success of the Maccabean revolt. There is nothing to indicate that it was composed with reference to the incident of the Three Children.

The Narrative Verses were obviously put into their present form in order to connect the Prayer and the Song with the rest of the book, but they may be based on a section of the original Daniel no longer included in the canonical book. In the canonical text the sequence between verses 23 and 24 seems imperfect: in 23 we read that the Three Children "fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace," we are not told how they fared, and verse 24 goes on at once, "Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied," nothing so far having happened to astonish him. Apparently originally something like the apocryphal narrative verses 1, 2, 23–27 stood between the canonical verses 23 and 24, and may have provided the basis for the apocryphal narrative verses.

These facts seem to point to some such conclusion as the following: two independent Hebrew poems, the Prayer and the Song, were inserted, either at the same time or at different times, in the Hebrew-Aramaic Daniel; the narrative section originally connecting the canonical verses 23 and 24 was modified in order to connect the poems with the rest of the book. There were then in circulation copies of two editions of Daniel, one with the "Addition," the other without; the former, longer, edition was the more popular and the more widely circulated. But later on it was held that the shorter form was the more authoritative, and in copies of the longer form our verses 1–68 were marked as an addition. From a copy or copies so marked, fresh copies were made which omitted our "Addition," without restoring the section which originally stood in the canonical chapter iii between verses 23 and 24.

The various authors and editors were clearly Jews; nothing whatever is known of them, beyond what may be gathered from the "Addition" itself.

§ 7. Influence of the Book on Later Literature, Canonicity, Etc.

As the "Addition" was current in early times as part of the longer Daniel, it is difficult to know how far it was accepted as canonical. When Daniel is mentioned in a list of canonical works, there is usually nothing to show whether or not it includes our "Addition." Its absence from the Massoretic edition of the Old Testament probably shows that the "Addition" was not included in Daniel as it was received into the Palestinian Canon.

On the other hand, it was generally accepted in the early and mediaeval Christian Church, being included in the LXX, Latin, Syriac, Egyptian, Arabic, Ethiopic, and other versions. The "Additions" to Daniel are freely used by the Greek and Latin Fathers: a Father who accepted Susanna and Bel and the Dragon would a fortiori accept the Prayer and the Song.

At the Reformation our "Addition" shared the fate of the rest of the Apocrypha. The Roman Church kept it as an integral part of Daniel and of the Old Testament; the Reformed Churches took it out of Daniel and made it a separate Apocryphon.

Philo apparently makes no use of Daniel, and Josephus, in his version of the incident of the Three Children and the Fiery Furnace, entirely ignores this "Addition."

Most of the parallels between the New Testament and the "Addition" are also parallels with the canonical Old Testament, and the two or three that remain may be mere coincidences. We may, however, note one: in verse 64 we have "spirits and souls of the righteous," with which we may compare Hebrews xii. 23, "the spirits of just men," and Revelation vi. 9, "I saw... the souls of them that had been slain for the word of God." But here there need be no literary connexion; moreover, in Wisdom of Solomon iii. 1 we have "the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God." Thus there is no sufficient evidence that the writers of the New Testament made use of this "Addition."

Verses 35–66 form the Benedicite, which stands in the Morning Service of the Prayer Book as an alternative to the Te Deum. The S.P.C.K. Prayer-Book with Commentary states, "The rubric of 1549 directing its use during Lent was done away with in 1552, and there is now no special direction when it should be used. But it is still deemed more suitable for that season than the exultant strain of the Te Deum, and to those days when the Lessons relate to the wonders of creation."

§ 8. Theology

These few verses, about one long Biblical chapter, are mostly secondary and imitative, largely a cento of phrases from the Old Testament. They illustrate, however, some of the features of Jewish theology about the beginning of the Christian Era. Thus the unique deity of the one God is set forth in verse 22 and at length in the appeal of the Song to all things animate and inanimate to praise God. Yet this one God is still specially the Champion of Israel against their enemies, verse 21. It is possible that the "worshippers" of verses 10 and 68 are proselytes, or, at any rate, include Gentiles.

In verses 5, 6, and 14 the misfortunes of Israel are explained by their sins, whereas in Psalm xliv, commonly regarded as Maccabean, the Jews protest that they are innocent martyrs, persecuted for loyalty to their God. But the sins confessed here are probably those of the nation in the past. Azariah says for himself and those for whom he speaks, "But in a contrite heart and a humble spirit let us be accepted... now we follow thee with all our heart, we fear thee and seek thy face" (verses 16–18).

Further, in verses 16 and 17 we have the idea that penitence is an acceptable sacrifice, compare Psalm li. 8.

(Bennett's introduction continues with a §9 Bibliography, listing editions of the text and versions and critical studies of the "Addition." That purely mechanical reference list is omitted here; all of its discursive content is reproduced above.)

The Prayer of Azariah, 1–22

1 And they walked in the midst of the fire, singing the praise of God, and blessing the Lord. 2 Then Azarias stood up with his companions and prayed on this manner; and opening his mouth in the 3 midst of the fire said, Blessed art thou, O Lord, thou God of our fathers, and worthy to be praised: 4 and thy name is glorified for evermore: for thou art just in all the things that thou hast done, and 5 all thy works are true, and thy ways right, and all thy judgements truth. In all the things that thou hast brought upon us, and upon the holy city of our fathers, even Jerusalem, thou hast executed true judgements: for according to truth and justice hast thou brought all these things upon us 6 because of our sins. For we have sinned and committed iniquity in departing from thee, and we 7 have sinned grievously in all things, and have neither hearkened unto thy commandments nor kept 8 them, nor done as thou hast commanded us, that it might go well with us. So all that thou hast 9 brought upon us and everything that thou hast done to us, thou hast done in true judgement. And thou didst deliver us into the hands of lawless enemies, and most hateful forsakers of God, and to 10 a king unjust and the most wicked in all the world. And now we cannot open our mouth; shame 11 and reproach have befallen thy servants, and them that worship thee. Deliver us not up utterly, for 12 thy name's sake, neither disannul thou thy covenant; and cause not thy mercy to depart from us, for the sake of Abraham that is beloved of thee, and for the sake of Isaac thy servant, and Israel 13 thy holy one; to whom thou didst promise that thou wouldst multiply their seed as the stars of 14 heaven, and as the sand that is upon the seashore. For we, O Master, have been made less than all 15 the nations, and are brought low this day in all the world because of our sins. Neither is there at this time prince, or prophet, or leader, or burnt offering, or sacrifice, or oblation, or incense, or place 16 to offer before thee and to find mercy. But in a contrite heart and a humble spirit let us be 17 accepted, like as in the burnt offerings of rams and bullocks, and like as in ten thousands of fat lambs; so let our sacrifice be in thy sight this day, and grant that we may wholly go after thee, for 18 they shall not be ashamed that put their trust in thee. And now we follow thee with all our heart, 19 we fear thee and seek thy face. Put us not to shame, but deal with us according to thy forbearance, 20 and according to the multitude of thy mercy. Deliver us also according to thy marvellous works, 21 and give glory to thy name, O Lord: and let all them that do thy servants hurt be confounded, and let them be brought to shame and deprived of all their dominion, and let their strength be broken; 22 and let them know that thou art the Lord, God, sole and glorious over the whole world.

23 And the king's servants, that put them in, ceased not to make the furnace hot with naphtha, pitch, 24 tow, and small wood; so that the flame streamed forth above the furnace forty and nine cubits. 25 And it spread, and burned those Chaldeans whom it found about the furnace. 26 But the angel of the Lord came down into the furnace together with Azarias and his fellows, and he drove the flame of the fire out of the furnace; 27 and made the midst of the furnace as it had been a moist whistling wind, so that the fire touched them not at all, neither hurt nor troubled them. 28 Then the three, as out of one mouth, praised, and glorified, and blessed God in the furnace, saying:

The Song of the Three Children, 29–68

29 Blessed art thou, O Lord, thou God of our fathers,
And to be praised and highly exalted for ever.

30 And blessed is thy glorious and holy name,
And to be highly praised and highly exalted for ever.

31 Blessed art thou in the temple of thy holy glory,
And to be highly sung and highly glorified for ever.

32 Blessed art thou that beholdest the depths and sittest upon the cherubim,
And to be praised and highly exalted for ever.

33 Blessed art thou on the throne of thy kingdom,
And to be highly sung and highly exalted for ever.

34 Blessed art thou in the firmament of heaven,
And to be sung and glorified for ever.

35 O all ye works of the Lord, bless ye the Lord,
Sing his praise and highly exalt him for ever.

36 O ye heavens, bless ye the Lord,
Sing his praise and highly exalt him for ever.

37 O ye angels of the Lord, bless ye the Lord,
Sing his praise and highly exalt him for ever.

38 O all ye waters that be above the heaven, bless ye the Lord,
Sing his praise and highly exalt him for ever.

39 O all ye powers of the Lord, bless ye the Lord,
Sing his praise and highly exalt him for ever.

40 O ye sun and moon, bless ye the Lord,
Sing his praise and highly exalt him for ever.

41 O ye stars of heaven, bless ye the Lord,
Sing his praise and highly exalt him for ever.

42 O every shower and dew, bless ye the Lord,
Sing his praise and highly exalt him for ever.

43 O all ye winds, bless ye the Lord,
Sing his praise and highly exalt him for ever.

44 O ye fire and heat, bless ye the Lord,
Sing his praise and highly exalt him for ever.

47 O ye nights and days, bless ye the Lord,
Sing his praise and highly exalt him for ever.

48 O ye light and darkness, bless ye the Lord,
Sing his praise and highly exalt him for ever.

49 O ye cold and heat, bless ye the Lord,
Sing his praise and highly exalt him for ever.

50 O ye frosts and snows, bless ye the Lord,
Sing his praise and highly exalt him for ever.

51 O ye lightnings and clouds, bless ye the Lord,
Sing his praise and highly exalt him for ever.

52 O let the earth bless the Lord,
Let it sing his praise and highly exalt him for ever.

53 O ye mountains and hills, bless ye the Lord,
Sing his praise and highly exalt him for ever.

54 O all ye things that grow on the earth, bless ye the Lord,
Sing his praise and highly exalt him for ever.

55 O ye seas and rivers, bless ye the Lord,
Sing his praise and highly exalt him for ever.

56 O ye fountains, bless ye the Lord,
Sing his praise and highly exalt him for ever.

57 O ye whales, and all that move in the waters, bless ye the Lord,
Sing his praise and highly exalt him for ever.

58 O all ye birds of the heaven, bless ye the Lord,
Sing his praise and highly exalt him for ever.

59 O all ye beasts and cattle, bless ye the Lord,
Sing his praise and highly exalt him for ever.

60 O ye sons of men, bless ye the Lord,
Sing his praise and highly exalt him for ever.

61 O Israel, bless ye the Lord,
Sing his praise and highly exalt him for ever.

62 O ye priests of the Lord, bless ye the Lord,
Sing his praise and highly exalt him for ever.

63 O ye servants of the Lord, bless ye the Lord,
Sing his praise and highly exalt him for ever.

64 O ye spirits and souls of the righteous, bless ye the Lord,
Sing his praise and highly exalt him for ever.

65 O ye saints and meek-hearted, bless ye the Lord,
Sing his praise and highly exalt him for ever.

66 O Ananias, Azarias, and Misael, bless ye the Lord,
Sing his praise and highly exalt him for ever.
For he hath rescued us from Hades, and saved us from the power of death,
And delivered us from the midst of the burning fiery furnace, even out of the midst of the fire hath he delivered us.

67 O give thanks unto the Lord,
For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.

68 O all ye that worship the Lord, bless the God of gods,
Sing his praise, and give thanks unto him;
For his mercy endureth for ever.

Colophon

Prepared from R. H. Charles (ed.), The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament in English, Vol. 1: Apocrypha (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1913), translation and introduction by W. H. Bennett. Source: archive.org item apocryphapseudep01charuoft (University of Toronto copy). This edition's dense per-verse textual-critical apparatus — the running notes comparing Theodotion, the LXX, the Peshitta, and other witnesses word by word — is omitted from this transcription; it survives complete in the 1913 printed edition and in the cited scan. Bennett's §9 Bibliography subsection (a list of editions and critical studies, with no discursive content of its own) is likewise omitted, disclosed above at the point of omission; footnote citation markers scattered through the discursive introduction have also been silently dropped, since they point only to page numbers in other books rather than adding substantive argument. Two verse numbers present in some Alexandrian and LXX manuscripts (45, "winter and summer," and 46, "dews and storms of snow") are, per Bennett's own note, absent from this translation's base text and are absent here too, so the numbering runs 44 then jumps to 47, matching Bennett's printed pagination. In the nature-hymn couplets of verses 47–65, Bennett's apparatus records that a few adjacent pairs (e.g. the couplets Bennett numbers 48/49 and 55/56) are transposed between Theodotion and the LXX/A.V. tradition; this transcription numbers the couplets sequentially in the order Bennett prints them, without attempting to adjudicate that transposition. One short, badly garbled OCR fragment within the §5 discussion of the original language (a string of corrupted characters with no recoverable content) has been silently dropped rather than reproduced as noise. No other omissions or illegible marks were found in the translation text itself.

Prepared for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church with AI-assisted transcription and editorial work.

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