Sirach 36:1–26

¹ Have mercy upon us, O Lord the God of all, and look at us with favor; (WEB) ² and send your fear upon all the nations. (WEB) ³ Lift up your hand against the foreign nations and let them see your mighty power. (WEB) ⁴ As you showed your holiness in us before them, so be magnified in them before us. (WEB) ⁵ Let them know you, as we also have known you, that there is no God but only you, O God. (WEB) ⁶ Show new signs, and work various wonders. Glorify your hand and your right arm. (WEB) ⁷ Raise up indignation and pour out wrath. Take away the adversary and destroy the enemy. (WEB) ⁸ Hasten the time and remember your oath. Let them declare your mighty works. (WEB) ⁹ Let him who escapes be devoured by raging fire. May those who harm your people find destruction. (WEB) ¹⁰ Crush the heads of the rulers of the enemies who say, “There is no one but ourselves.” (WEB) ¹¹ Gather all the tribes of Jacob together, and take them for your inheritance, as from the beginning. (WEB) ¹² O Lord, have mercy upon the people that is called by your name, and upon Israel, whom you likened to a firstborn. (WEB) ¹³ Have compassion upon the city of your sanctuary, Jerusalem, the place of your rest. (WEB) ¹⁴ Fill Zion. Exalt your oracles and fill your people with your glory. (WEB) ¹⁵ Give testimony to those who were your creatures in the beginning, and fulfill the prophecies that have been spoken in your name. (WEB) ¹⁶ Reward those who wait for you, and men will put their trust in your prophets. (WEB) ¹⁷ 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. (WEB) ¹⁸ The belly will eat any food, but one food is better than another. (WEB) ¹⁹ The mouth tastes meats taken in hunting, so does an understanding heart detect false speech. (WEB) ²⁰ A contrary heart will cause heaviness. A man of experience will pay him back. (WEB) ²¹ A woman will receive any man, but one daughter is better than another. (WEB) ²² The beauty of a woman cheers the countenance. A man desires nothing more. (WEB) ²³ If kindness and humility are on her tongue, her husband is not like other sons of men. (WEB) ²⁴ He who gets a wife gets his richest treasure, a help meet for him and a pillar of support. (WEB) ²⁵ Where no hedge is, the property will be plundered. He who has no wife will mourn as he wanders. (WEB) ²⁶ 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? (WEB)