{N}1,{/}11 These verses are not the first prophetic condemnation of sacrifices offered by rich worshipers who are insensitive to the demands of justice in relation to the suffering poor of their society. Amos 2,6; 4,1; 5,7 are much more ancient. Mic 3,1 is contemporaneous with Isaiah. These complaints form a current of protests against injustice related to cultic sacrifices. The "religious" rich deploy such acts of worship to salve their conflicts of conscience. 
Several centuries later the situation changed as wisdom literature began to develop. In this later period temple worship was contrasted with the priority of the faithful practice of the Law, since such worship was already one of the demands of the Law. The teachers of the Law were experts on the requirements of the Law which they regularly taught and commented on in the synagogues. The great change that had taken place was that worship in synagogues in the diaspora far from the Temple was conducted without priests or immolated animals. The teachers' repeated calls to faithfulness to the Law had now become the chief instrument for forming religious convictions and a sense of vocation through the sabbath ceremonies. Undoubtedly the question put forth about the greatest commandment by the teacher of the Law in Mc 12,28 had this purpose in mind.
The teaching in Sir 34,18 - 35,9 treated this same tension between justice and acceptable worship. It is significant that in chapter 50, in which the minister of the high priest is praised, it was not the blood of sacrificed animals that was chosen for the offering, but rather a pouring out of the juice of crushed grapes over the altar.

{N}40,{/}12 This text marks a beautiful change of theme from a call to hope to praises of the one God, the Creator of the universe. Nevertheless, the two parts of this chapter are interrelated. The call to hope is based on the certainty of belief in the one God. This same theme reoccurs in chapter 41. The proclamation to Cyrus in chapter 45 is likewise made in the context of praise to Yahweh, the Lord of the universe expressed in 44,24-27.
God is able to change history. Moreover, sacred history coincides with the Creator's plan. It is accomplished in sacred history. Everything, such as the call of God's chosen ones, contributes to the completion of the Creator's plan in Eph 1,1. It is the same wisdom of God that directed creation that is now guiding Israel's destiny. This same theme will be expressed in the poem in Prov 8,22 as well as in the prologue of the Gospel according to John.

