Sirach

Chapter-36

Sirach 36:1 O God of all, take pity on us, and look with favor on us, and show us the light of your compassion.

 

Sirach 36:2 And send your fear upon the Gentiles, who have not sought you, so that they may acknowledge that there is no God except you, and so that they may declare your great deeds.

 

Sirach 36:3 Lift up your hand over unbelieving nations, so that they may see your power.

 

Sirach 36:4 For just as, in their sight, you have been sanctified in us, so also, in our sight, you will be magnified in them.

 

Sirach 36:5 So may they know you, as we also have known you. For there is no God apart from you, O Lord.

 

Sirach 36:6 Renew your signs, and work new wonders.

 

Sirach 36:7 Glorify your hand and your right arm.

 

Sirach 36:8 Stir up your fury, and pour out your wrath.

 

Sirach 36:9 Take away our adversary, and afflict our enemy.

 

Sirach 36:10 Hasten the time, and remember the end, so that they may declare your miracles.

 

Sirach 36:11 Let those who escape be devoured by the wrath of fire. And let those who harass your people find perdition.

 

Sirach 36:12 Crush the head of the leaders of the enemies, for they say: “There is no other beside us.”

 

Sirach 36:13 Gather together all the tribes of Jacob, so that they may acknowledge that there is no God except you, and so that they may declare your great deeds. And you will inherit them, as from the beginning.

 

Sirach 36:14 Take pity on your people, over whom your name has been invoked, and on Israel, whom you have treated as your firstborn.

 

Sirach 36:15 Take pity on Jerusalem, the city of your sanctification, the city of your rest.

 

Sirach 36:16 Fill Zion with your ineffable words, and fill your people with your glory.

 

Sirach 36:17 Give testimony to those who have been your creations from the beginning, and lift up the prophecies which the former prophets spoke in your name.

 

Sirach 36:18 Give a reward to those who endure for you, so that your prophets may be found to be faithful. And heed the prayers of your servants,

 

Sirach 36:19 in accord with the blessing of Aaron over your people. And direct us in the way of justice, and let all who inhabit the earth know that you are God, the Beholder of all ages.

 

Sirach 36:20 The belly can devour any food, yet one meal is better than another.

 

Sirach 36:21 The palate tests the meat of wild animals, and the understanding heart tests false words.

 

Sirach 36:22 A corrupt heart will cause grief, and a man of experience will resist it.

 

Sirach 36:23 A woman can receive any male, yet one daughter is better than another.

 

Sirach 36:24 The beauty of a wife cheers the face of her husband, and rises above his desire, above all the desires of man.

 

Sirach 36:25 If she offers healing words, then she both comforts and shows mercy; and so her husband is not like other men.

 

Sirach 36:26 He who holds to a good wife establishes a possession. She is a helper in agreement with him, and she is a pillar of rest.

 

Sirach 36:27 Where there is no hedge, a possession will be trampled. And where there is no wife, he will mourn her absence.

 

Sirach 36:28 Who will trust one who has no nest, and who conceals himself wherever his course may take him, like a well-equipped robber passing from city to city?