1 There shall no evil happen unto him that feareth the Lord; But in temptation even again he will deliver him. 2 A wise man hateth not the law; But he that is a hypocrite therein is as a ship in a storm. 3 A man of understanding trusteth in the law; And the law is faithful unto him, as an oracle. 4 Prepare what to say, and so thou shalt be heard: And bind up instruction, and then make answer. 5 The heart of the foolish is like a cart wheel; And his thoughts are like a rolling axletree. 6 A stallion horse is as a mocking friend, He neigheth under everyone that sitteth upon him. 7 Why doth one day excel another, When as all the light of every day in the year is of the sun? 8 By the knowledge of the Lord they were distinguished: And he altered seasons and feasts. 9 Some of them hath he made high days, and hallowed [them], And some of them hath he made ordinary days. 10 And all men are from the ground, And Adam was created of earth. 11 In much knowledge the Lord hath divided them, And made their ways diverse. 12 Some of them hath he blessed and exalted, And some of them hath he sanctified, and set near himself: But some of them hath he cursed and brought low, And turned out of their places. 13 As the clay is in the potter’s hand, To fashion it at his pleasure: So man is in the hand of him that made him, To render to them as liketh him best. 14 Good is set against evil, and life against death: So is the godly against the sinner, And the sinner against the godly. 15 So look upon all the works of the most High; And there are two and two, one against another. 16 Though I was the last to wake up, Yet I received their inheritance as from the beginning. 17 O Lord have mercy upon the people that is called by thy name, And upon Israel, whom thou hast named thy firstborn. 18 O be merciful unto Jerusalem, thy holy city, The place of thy rest. 19 Fill Zion with thine unspeakable oracles, And thy people with thy glory. 20 Give testimony unto those that thou hast possessed from the beginning, And raise up prophets that have been in thy name. 21 Reward them that wait for thee, And let thy prophets be found faithful. 22 O 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. 23 The belly devoureth all meats, Yet is one meat better than another. 24 As the palate tasteth diverse kinds of venison: So doth a heart of understanding false speeches. 25 A froward heart causeth heaviness: But a man of experience will recompense him. 26 A woman will receive every man, Yet is one daughter better than another. 27 The beauty of a woman cheereth the countenance, And a man loveth nothing better. 28 If there be kindness, meekness, and comfort, in her tongue, Then is not her husband like other men. 29 He that getteth a wife beginneth a possession, A help like unto himself, and a pillar of rest. 30 Where no hedge is, there the possession is spoiled: And he that hath no wife will wander up and down mourning. 31 Who 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?
Sirach · Updated Brenton English Septuagint
Sirach 36 Updated Brenton English Septuagint
Notes on this text (1)
- Same Septuagint text as Brenton, with modernised spelling.
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
As Thou wast sanctified in us before them, so be Thou sanctified in them before us, and let them acknowledge Thee, according as we also have acknowledged Thee; for there is not a God beside Thee, O Lord." We see this prophecy in the form of a wish and prayer fulfilled through Jesus Christ.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)