Sirach 36 - Meaning, Themes & Application

Have mercy upon us, O Lord the God of all, and look at us with favor;

and send your fear upon all the nations.

Lift up your hand against the foreign nations and let them see your mighty power.

As you showed your holiness in us before them, so be magnified in them before us.

Let them know you, as we also have known you, that there is no God but only you, O God.

Show new signs, and work various wonders. Glorify your hand and your right arm.

Raise up indignation and pour out wrath. Take away the adversary and destroy the enemy.

Hasten the time and remember your oath. Let them declare your mighty works.

Let him who escapes be devoured by raging fire. May those who harm your people find destruction.

Crush the heads of the rulers of the enemies who say, “There is no one but ourselves.”

Gather all the tribes of Jacob together, and take them for your inheritance, as from the beginning.

O Lord, have mercy upon the people that is called by your name, and upon Israel, whom you likened to a firstborn.

Have compassion upon the city of your sanctuary, Jerusalem, the place of your rest.

Fill Zion. Exalt your oracles and fill your people with your glory.

Give testimony to those who were your creatures in the beginning, and fulfill the prophecies that have been spoken in your name.

Reward those who wait for you, and men will put their trust in your prophets.

Listen, O Lord, to the prayer of your servants, according to the blessing of Aaron concerning your people; and all those who are on the earth will know that you are the Lord, the eternal God.

The belly will eat any food, but one food is better than another.

The mouth tastes meats taken in hunting, so does an understanding heart detect false speech.

A contrary heart will cause heaviness. A man of experience will pay him back.

A woman will receive any man, but one daughter is better than another.

The beauty of a woman cheers the countenance. A man desires nothing more.

If kindness and humility are on her tongue, her husband is not like other sons of men.

He who gets a wife gets his richest treasure, a help meet for him and a pillar of support.

Where no hedge is, the property will be plundered. He who has no wife will mourn as he wanders.

For who would trust a nimble robber who skips from city to city? Even so, who would trust a man who has no nest, and lodges wherever he finds himself at nightfall?