Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), Chapter 36

¹Have mercy upon us, O Lord God of all, and behold us: ²And send thy fear upon all the nations that seek not after thee. ³Lift up thy hand against the strange nations, and let them see thy power. ⁴As thou wast sanctified in us before them: so be thou magnified among them before us. ⁵And let them know thee, as we have known thee, that there is no God but only thou, O God. ⁶Shew new signs, and make other strange wonders: glorify thy hand and thy right arm, that they may set forth thy wondrous works. ⁷Raise up indignation, and pour out wrath: take away the adversary, and destroy the enemy. ⁸Make the time short, remember the covenant, and let them declare thy wonderful works.

⁹Let him that escapeth be consumed by the rage of the fire; and let them perish that oppress the people. ¹⁰Smite in sunder the heads of the rulers of the heathen, that say, There is none other but we. ¹¹Gather all the tribes of Jacob together, and inherit thou them, as from the beginning. ¹²O Lord, have mercy upon the people that is called by thy name, and upon Israel, whom thou hast named thy firstborn. ¹³O be merciful unto Jerusalem, thy holy city, the place of thy rest. ¹⁴Fill Sion with thine unspeakable oracles, and thy people with thy glory: ¹⁵Give testimony unto those that thou hast possessed from the beginning, and raise up prophets that have been in thy name. ¹⁶Reward them that wait for thee, and let thy prophets be found faithful.

¹⁷O Lord, hear the prayer of thy servants, according to the blessing of Aaron over thy people, that all they which dwell upon the earth may know that thou art the Lord, the eternal God. ¹⁸The belly devoureth all meats, yet is one meat better than another. ¹⁹As the palate tasteth divers kinds of venison: so doth an heart of understanding false speeches. ²⁰A froward heart causeth heaviness: but a man of experience will recompense him. ²¹A woman will receive every man, yet is one daughter better than another. ²²The beauty of a woman cheereth the countenance, and a man loveth nothing better. ²³If there be kindness, meekness, and comfort, in her tongue, then is not her husband like other men. ²⁴He that getteth a wife beginneth a possession, a help like unto himself, and a pillar of rest.

²⁵Where no hedge is, there the possession is spoiled: and he that hath no wife will wander up and down mourning. ²⁶Who will trust a thief well appointed, that skippeth from city to city? so who will believe a man that hath no house, and lodgeth wheresoever the night taketh him?