Sirach · Brenton's English Septuagint
Sirach 36 Brenton's English Septuagint
Notes on this text (2)
- Square brackets mark words Brenton supplied for English sense.
- Old Testament only (no New Testament). First printed 1844; the 1851 edition added the deuterocanonical books.
1 There shall no evil happen unto him that feareth the Lord; but in temptation even again he will deliver him.
1 Have mercy upon us, O Lord the God of all, and look at us with favor;
2 A wise man hateth not the law; but he that is an hypocrite therein is as a ship in a storm.
2 and send your fear upon all the nations.
3 A man of understanding trusteth in the law; and the law is faithful unto him, as an oracle.
3 Lift up your hand against the foreign nations and let them see your mighty power.
4 Prepare what to say, and so thou shalt be heard: and bind up instruction, and then make answer.
4 As you showed your holiness in us before them, so be magnified in them before us.
5 The heart of the foolish is like a cartwheel; and his thoughts are like a rolling axle-tree.
5 Let them know you, as we also have known you, that there is no God but only you, O God.
6 A stallion horse is as a mocking friend, he neigheth under every one that sitteth upon him.
6 Show new signs, and work various wonders. Glorify your hand and your right arm.
7 Why doth one day excel another, when as all the light of every day in the year is of the sun?
7 Raise up indignation and pour out wrath. Take away the adversary and destroy the enemy.
8 By the knowledge of the Lord they were distinguished: and he altered seasons and feasts.
8 Hasten the time and remember your oath. Let them declare your mighty works.
9 Some of them hath he made high days, and hallowed [them], and some of them hath he made ordinary days.
9 Let him who escapes be devoured by raging fire. May those who harm your people find destruction.
10 And all men are from the ground, and Adam was created of earth.
10 Crush the heads of the rulers of the enemies who say, “There is no one but ourselves.”
11 In much knowledge the Lord hath divided them, and made their ways diverse.
11 Gather all the tribes of Jacob together, and take them for your inheritance, as from the beginning.
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.
12 O Lord, have mercy upon the people that is called by your name, and upon Israel, whom you likened to a firstborn.
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.
13 Have compassion upon the city of your sanctuary, Jerusalem, the place of your rest.
14 Good is set against evil, and life against death: so is the godly against the sinner, and the sinner against the godly.
14 Fill Zion. Exalt your oracles and fill your people with your glory.
15 So look upon all the works of the most High; and there are two and two, one against another.
15 Give testimony to those who were your creatures in the beginning, and fulfill the prophecies that have been spoken in your name.
16 Though I was the last to wake up, yet I received their inheritance as from the beginning.
16 Reward those who wait for you, and men will put their trust in your prophets.
17 O Lord have mercy upon the people that is called by thy name, and upon Israel, whom thou hast named thy firstborn.
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.
18 O be merciful unto Jerusalem, thy holy city, the place of thy rest.
18 The belly will eat any food, but one food is better than another.
19 Fill Sion with thine unspeakable oracles, and thy people with thy glory.
19 The mouth tastes meats taken in hunting, so does an understanding heart detect false speech.
20 Give testimony unto those that thou hast possessed from the beginning, and raise up prophets that have been in thy name.
20 A contrary heart will cause heaviness. A man of experience will pay him back.
21 Reward them that wait for thee, and let thy prophets be found faithful.
21 A woman will receive any man, but one daughter is better than another.
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.
22 The beauty of a woman cheers the countenance. A man desires nothing more.
23 The belly devoureth all meats, yet is one meat better than another.
23 If kindness and humility are on her tongue, her husband is not like other sons of men.
24 As the palate tasteth divers kinds of venison: so doth an heart of understanding false speeches.
24 He who gets a wife gets his richest treasure, a help meet for him and a pillar of support.
25 A froward heart causeth heaviness: but a man of experience will recompense him.
25 Where no hedge is, the property will be plundered. He who has no wife will mourn as he wanders.
26 A woman will receive every man, yet is one daughter better than another.
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?
27 The beauty of a woman cheereth the countenance, and a man loveth nothing better.
27 Not in this translation
28 If there be kindness, meekness, and comfort, in her tongue, then is not her husband like other men.
28 Not in this translation
29 He that getteth a wife beginneth a possession, a help like unto himself, and a pillar of rest.
29 Not in this translation
30 Where no hedge is, there the possession is spoiled: and he that hath no wife will wander up and down mourning.
30 Not in this translation
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?
31 Not in this translation
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)