Sirach 36

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

2 And send thy fear upon all the nations:

3 Lift up thy hand against the strange nations;

And let them see thy mighty power.

4 As thou wast sanctified in us before them,

So be thou magnified in them before us.

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

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

6 Shew new signs, and work divers wonders;

Glorify thy hand and thy right arm.

7 Raise up indignation, and pour out wrath;

Take away the adversary, and destroy the enemy.

8 Hasten the time, and remember the oath;

And let them declare thy mighty works.

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

And may they that harm thy people find destruction.

10 Crush the heads of the rulers of the enemies,

That say, There is none but we.

11 Gather all the tribes of Jacob together,

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

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

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

13 Have compassion upon the city of thy sanctuary,

Jerusalem, the place of thy rest.

14 Fill Sion; exalt thine oracles,

And fill thy people with thy glory.

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

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

16 Give reward unto them that wait for thee:

And men shall put their trust in thy prophets.

17 Hearken, 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.

18 The belly will eat any meat;

Yet is one meat better than another.

19 The mouth tasteth meats taken in hunting:

So doth an understanding heart false speeches.

20 A froward heart will cause heaviness:

And a man of experience will recompense him.

21 A woman will receive any man;

But one daughter is better than another.

22 The beauty of a woman cheereth the countenance;

And a man desireth nothing so much.

23 If there is on her tongue mercy and meekness,

Her husband is not like the sons of men.

24 He that getteth a wife entereth upon a possession:

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

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

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

26 For 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?