RV-CE

SIRACH 36

1Have mercy upon us, O Lord the God of all, and behold;

2And send thy fear upon all the nations:

3Lift up thy hand against the strange nations;

And let them see thy mighty power.

4As thou wast sanctified in us before them,

So be thou magnified in them before us.

5And let them know thee, as we also have known thee,

That there is no God but only thou, O God.

6Shew new signs, and work divers wonders;

Glorify thy hand and thy right arm.

7Raise up indignation, and pour out wrath;

Take away the adversary, and destroy the enemy.

8Hasten the time, and remember the oath;

And let them declare thy mighty works.

9Let him that escapeth be devoured by the rage of fire;

And may they that harm thy people find destruction.

10Crush the heads of the rulers of the enemies,

That say, There is none but we.

11Gather all the tribes of Jacob together,

And take them for thine inheritance, as from the beginning.

12O Lord, have mercy upon the people that is called by thy name,

And upon Israel, whom thou didst liken unto a firstborn.

13Have compassion upon the city of thy sanctuary,

Jerusalem, the place of thy rest.

14Fill Sion; exalt thine oracles,

And fill thy people with thy glory.

15Give testimony unto those that were thy creatures in the beginning,

And raise up the prophecies that have been in thy name.

16Give reward unto them that wait for thee:

And men shall put their trust in thy prophets.

17Hearken, O Lord, to the prayer of thy suppliants,

According to the blessing of Aaron concerning thy people;

And all they that are on the earth shall know

That thou art the Lord, the eternal God.

18The belly will eat any meat;

Yet is one meat better than another.

19The mouth tasteth meats taken in hunting:

So doth an understanding heart false speeches.

20A froward heart will cause heaviness:

And a man of experience will recompense him.

21A woman will receive any man;

But one daughter is better than another.

22The beauty of a woman cheereth the countenance;

And a man desireth nothing so much.

23If there is on her tongue mercy and meekness,

Her husband is not like the sons of men.

24He that getteth a wife entereth upon a possession:

A help meet for him, and a pillar of rest.

25Where no hedge is, the possession will be laid waste:

And he that hath no wife will mourn as he wandereth up and down.

26For who will trust a nimble robber, that skippeth from city to city?

Even so who shall trust a man that hath no nest, and lodgeth wheresoever he findeth himself at nightfall?