Prayer for the deliverance of Israel
1 ① Have mercy on us, Master, God of all, and look on us; make every nation stand in fear of you.
2Take action against the pagan nations and let them see your power. 3You have shown them your holiness through what happened to us, so now let us see your great power in acting among them.
4Let them acknowledge, as we have acknowledged, that there is no God but you, Lord.
5Give new signs, do fresh wonders, stretch out your hand and be glorified in your strength.
6Kindle your fury and rouse your anger, destroy your opponents, crush your enemy.
7Hasten the day, remember your covenant so that we may speak of your great deeds. 8Let the survivors be consumed in fiery wrath, let those who oppress send to perdition. 9Crush the heads of hostile rulers – those who say they alone count.
10Gather all the tribes of Jacob, give them back their inheritance as in the beginning.
11Have pity, Lord, on the people known by your Name, on Israel whom you called your firstborn.
12Show compassion to the holy city, to Jerusalem where you rest.
13Fill Zion with the fame of your wonders, and your people with your glory.
14Confirm the promises made to your people long ago and fulfill the promises made in your name.
15Reward those who wait for you and fulfill the words of your prophets.
16Hear the prayer of your servants, Lord; hear your priests giving Aaron’s blessing to your people.
17So that all on earth may acknowledge that you are Lord and ever lasting God.
Choosing a wife
18The stomach takes in all kinds of food but one food is better than another.
19Just as the tongue can distinguish the flavor of game, so does the alert mind detect lies.
20A crooked heart causes sorrow, but an experienced person knows how to get even with him.
21A woman will accept any husband but some daughters are better than others.
22Woman’s beauty rejoices people and is beyond all that could be wished for.
23If she is kindly-spoken and gentle he is the most fortunate of men.
24When a man marries he acquires a fortune, someone who understands him and who will help and support him.
25When there is no hedge the property will be destroyed; and when a man has no wife he is a fretful wanderer.
26Who would trust a clever robber flitting from town to town? 27And who would trust a man without a nest, who lodges wherever nightfall finds him?
- Sir 36,1 The author shares the ideas of his contemporaries who think only of the salvation of the world through the salvation of the Jewish people. He believes in the promises of the prophets: God will do justice and will gather together the dispersed children of Israel. This hope has always been the strength of the Jewish people. After Christ the Jews were dispersed as the Gospel foretold. Counting on God's promises and the certitude of their unique vocation they were often able to resist dispersion and assimilation. The New Testament shows us that all of God's promises to his people have been ful-filled in Jesus. It is on the basis of this certitude that we must re-evaluate the words of God. At first they all seemed centered on the gift to Israel of material land within the limits of Palestine. The prophets show that things were not so simple, and Jesus teaches his apostles that salvation history is a process of deaths and resurrections.
