Sirach 36

¹Have mercy upon us, O Lord the God of all, and look at us with favor;† (1 connection)

²and send your fear upon all the nations.† (1 connection)

³Lift up your hand against the foreign nations and let them see your mighty power.† (1 connection)

⁴As you showed your holiness in us before them, so be magnified in them before us.† (1 connection)

⁵Let them know you, as we also have known you, that there is no God but only you, O God.† (1 connection)

⁶Show new signs, and work various wonders. Glorify your hand and your right arm.

⁷Raise up indignation and pour out wrath. Take away the adversary and destroy the enemy.

⁸Hasten the time and remember your oath. Let them declare your mighty works.

⁹Let him who escapes be devoured by raging fire. May those who harm your people find destruction.

¹⁰Crush the heads of the rulers of the enemies who say, “There is no one but ourselves.”

¹¹Gather all the tribes of Jacob together, and take them for your inheritance, as from the beginning.¶⇄ (15 connections)

¹²O Lord, have mercy upon the people that is called by your name, and upon Israel, whom you likened to a firstborn.

¹³Have compassion upon the city of your sanctuary, Jerusalem, the place of your rest.

¹⁴Fill Zion. Exalt your oracles and fill your people with your glory.

¹⁵Give testimony to those who were your creatures in the beginning, and fulfill the prophecies that have been spoken in your name.

¹⁶Reward those who wait for you, and men will put their trust in your prophets.

¹⁷Listen, 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.⇄ (1 connection)

¹⁸The belly will eat any food, but one food is better than another.

¹⁹The mouth tastes meats taken in hunting, so does an understanding heart detect false speech.

²⁰A contrary heart will cause heaviness. A man of experience will pay him back.

²¹A woman will receive any man, but one daughter is better than another.

²²The beauty of a woman cheers the countenance. A man desires nothing more.

²³If kindness and humility are on her tongue, her husband is not like other sons of men.

²⁴He who gets a wife gets his richest treasure, a help meet for him and a pillar of support.

²⁵Where no hedge is, the property will be plundered. He who has no wife will mourn as he wanders.

²⁶For 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?