Sirach 36 Clementine Vulgate
1 [Miserere nostri, Deus omnium, et respice nos, et ostende nobis lucem miserationum tuarum:
1 Have mercy upon us, O Lord the God of all, and look at us with favor;
2 et immitte timorem tuum super gentes quæ non exquisierunt te, ut cognoscant quia non est deus nisi tu, et enarrent magnalia tua.
2 and send your fear upon all the nations.
3 Alleva manum tuam super gentes alienas, ut videant potentiam tuam.
3 Lift up your hand against the foreign nations and let them see your mighty power.
4 Sicut enim in conspectu eorum sanctificatus es in nobis, sic in conspectu nostro magnificaberis in eis:
4 As you showed your holiness in us before them, so be magnified in them before us.
5 ut cognoscant te, sicut et nos cognovimus quoniam non est deus præter te, Domine.
5 Let them know you, as we also have known you, that there is no God but only you, O God.
6 Innova signa, et immuta mirabilia.
6 Show new signs, and work various wonders. Glorify your hand and your right arm.
7 Glorifica manum et brachium dextrum.
7 Raise up indignation and pour out wrath. Take away the adversary and destroy the enemy.
8 Excita furorem, et effunde iram.
8 Hasten the time and remember your oath. Let them declare your mighty works.
9 Tolle adversarium, et afflige inimicum.
9 Let him who escapes be devoured by raging fire. May those who harm your people find destruction.
10 Festina tempus, et memento finis, ut enarrent mirabilia tua.
10 Crush the heads of the rulers of the enemies who say, “There is no one but ourselves.”
11 In ira flammæ devoretur qui salvatur: et qui pessimant plebem tuam inveniant perditionem.
11 Gather all the tribes of Jacob together, and take them for your inheritance, as from the beginning.
12 Contere caput principum inimicorum, dicentium: Non est alius præter nos.
12 O Lord, have mercy upon the people that is called by your name, and upon Israel, whom you likened to a firstborn.
13 Congrega omnes tribus Jacob, ut cognoscant quia non est deus nisi tu, et enarrent magnalia tua, et hæreditabis eos sicut ab initio.
13 Have compassion upon the city of your sanctuary, Jerusalem, the place of your rest.
14 Miserere plebi tuæ, super quam invocatum est nomen tuum, et Israël quem coæquasti primogenito tuo.
14 Fill Zion. Exalt your oracles and fill your people with your glory.
15 Miserere civitati sanctificationis tuæ, Jerusalem, civitati requiei tuæ.
15 Give testimony to those who were your creatures in the beginning, and fulfill the prophecies that have been spoken in your name.
16 Reple Sion inenarrabilibus verbis tuis, et gloria tua populum tuum.
16 Reward those who wait for you, and men will put their trust in your prophets.
17 Da testimonium his qui ab initio creaturæ tuæ sunt, et suscita prædicationes quas locuti sunt in nomine tuo prophetæ priores.
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 Da mercedem sustinentibus te, ut prophetæ tui fideles inveniantur: et exaudi orationes servorum tuorum,
18 The belly will eat any food, but one food is better than another.
19 secundum benedictionem Aaron de populo tuo: et dirige nos in viam justitiæ, et sciant omnes qui habitant terram quia tu es Deus conspector sæculorum.]
19 The mouth tastes meats taken in hunting, so does an understanding heart detect false speech.
20 [Omnem escam manducabit venter: et est cibus cibo melior.
20 A contrary heart will cause heaviness. A man of experience will pay him back.
21 Fauces contingunt cibum feræ, et cor sensatum verba mendacia.
21 A woman will receive any man, but one daughter is better than another.
22 Cor pravum dabit tristitiam, et homo peritus resistet illi.
22 The beauty of a woman cheers the countenance. A man desires nothing more.
23 Omnem masculum excipiet mulier: et est filia melior filia.
23 If kindness and humility are on her tongue, her husband is not like other sons of men.
24 Species mulieris exhilarat faciem viri sui, et super omnem concupiscentiam hominis superducit desiderium.
24 He who gets a wife gets his richest treasure, a help meet for him and a pillar of support.
25 Si est lingua curationis, est et mitigationis et misericordiæ: non est vir illius secundum filios hominum.
25 Where no hedge is, the property will be plundered. He who has no wife will mourn as he wanders.
26 Qui possidet mulierem bonam inchoat possessionem: adjutorium secundum illum est, et columna ut requies.
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 Ubi non est sepes, diripietur possessio: et ubi non est mulier, ingemiscit egens.
27 Not in this translation
28 Quis credit ei qui non habet nidum, et deflectens ubicumque obscuraverit, quasi succinctus latro exiliens de civitate in civitatem?]
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)