Sirach · Catholic Public Domain Version
Sirach 36 Catholic Public Domain Version
Notes on this text (3)
- Esther and Daniel are the Vulgate books (Esther 1–16 with the Greek additions as chapters 10:4–16; Daniel 1–14 with the Song of the Three, Susanna and Bel). Baruch 6 is the Letter of Jeremiah.
- The translator's footnotes, cross-references, chapter summaries and book introductions in the CrossWire module are not shown.
- No imprimatur; single translator.
1 O God of all, take pity on us, and look with favor on us, and show us the light of your compassion.
1 Have mercy upon us, O Lord the God of all, and look at us with favor;
2 And send your fear upon the Gentiles, who have not sought you, so that they may acknowledge that there is no God except you, and so that they may declare your great deeds.
2 and send your fear upon all the nations.
3 Lift up your hand over unbelieving nations, so that they may see your power.
3 Lift up your hand against the foreign nations and let them see your mighty power.
4 For just as, in their sight, you have been sanctified in us, so also, in our sight, you will be magnified in them.
4 As you showed your holiness in us before them, so be magnified in them before us.
5 So may they know you, as we also have known you. For there is no God apart from you, O Lord.
5 Let them know you, as we also have known you, that there is no God but only you, O God.
6 Renew your signs, and work new wonders.
6 Show new signs, and work various wonders. Glorify your hand and your right arm.
7 Glorify your hand and your right arm.
7 Raise up indignation and pour out wrath. Take away the adversary and destroy the enemy.
8 Stir up your fury, and pour out your wrath.
8 Hasten the time and remember your oath. Let them declare your mighty works.
9 Take away our adversary, and afflict our enemy.
9 Let him who escapes be devoured by raging fire. May those who harm your people find destruction.
10 Hasten the time, and remember the end, so that they may declare your miracles.
10 Crush the heads of the rulers of the enemies who say, “There is no one but ourselves.”
11 Let those who escape be devoured by the wrath of fire. And let those who harass your people find perdition.
11 Gather all the tribes of Jacob together, and take them for your inheritance, as from the beginning.
12 Crush the head of the leaders of the enemies, for they say: “There is no other beside us.”
12 O Lord, have mercy upon the people that is called by your name, and upon Israel, whom you likened to a firstborn.
13 Gather together all the tribes of Jacob, so that they may acknowledge that there is no God except you, and so that they may declare your great deeds. And you will inherit them, as from the beginning.
13 Have compassion upon the city of your sanctuary, Jerusalem, the place of your rest.
14 Take pity on your people, over whom your name has been invoked, and on Israel, whom you have treated as your firstborn.
14 Fill Zion. Exalt your oracles and fill your people with your glory.
15 Take pity on Jerusalem, the city of your sanctification, the city of your rest.
15 Give testimony to those who were your creatures in the beginning, and fulfill the prophecies that have been spoken in your name.
16 Fill Zion with your ineffable words, and fill your people with your glory.
16 Reward those who wait for you, and men will put their trust in your prophets.
17 Give testimony to those who have been your creations from the beginning, and lift up the prophecies which the former prophets spoke in your name.
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 Give a reward to those who endure for you, so that your prophets may be found to be faithful. And heed the prayers of your servants,
18 The belly will eat any food, but one food is better than another.
19 in accord with the blessing of Aaron over your people. And direct us in the way of justice, and let all who inhabit the earth know that you are God, the Beholder of all ages.
19 The mouth tastes meats taken in hunting, so does an understanding heart detect false speech.
20 The belly can devour any food, yet one meal is better than another.
20 A contrary heart will cause heaviness. A man of experience will pay him back.
21 The palate tests the meat of wild animals, and the understanding heart tests false words.
21 A woman will receive any man, but one daughter is better than another.
22 A corrupt heart will cause grief, and a man of experience will resist it.
22 The beauty of a woman cheers the countenance. A man desires nothing more.
23 A woman can receive any male, yet one daughter is better than another.
23 If kindness and humility are on her tongue, her husband is not like other sons of men.
24 The beauty of a wife cheers the face of her husband, and rises above his desire, above all the desires of man.
24 He who gets a wife gets his richest treasure, a help meet for him and a pillar of support.
25 If she offers healing words, then she both comforts and shows mercy; and so her husband is not like other men.
25 Where no hedge is, the property will be plundered. He who has no wife will mourn as he wanders.
26 He who holds to a good wife establishes a possession. She is a helper in agreement with him, and she is a pillar of rest.
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 Where there is no hedge, a possession will be trampled. And where there is no wife, he will mourn her absence.
27 Not in this translation
28 Who will trust one who has no nest, and who conceals himself wherever his course may take him, like a well-equipped robber passing from city to city?
28 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)