Ecclesiasticus 36

Prayer for the Deliverance and Restoration of Israel

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

2and send thy fear upon all the nations that seek not after thee.[#Ps 79.6; Jer 10.25.]

3Lift up thy hand against the strange nations, and let them see thy power.

4As thou wast sanctified in us before them: so be thou magnified among them before us.[#Ezek 20.41; 28.25.]

5And let them know thee, as we have known thee, that there is no God but only thou, O God.[#1 Kgs 8.43; 1 Chr 17.20; Isa 45.14.]

6Show new signs, and make other strange wonders: glorify thy hand and thy right arm, that they may set forth thy wondrous works.

7Raise up indignation, and pour out wrath: take away the adversary, and destroy the enemy.[#Ps 79.6.]

8Make the time short, remember the covenant, and let them declare thy wonderful works.

9Let him that escapeth be consumed by the rage of the fire; and let them perish that oppress the people.

10Smite in sunder the heads of the rulers of the heathen, that say, There is none other but we.

11Gather all the tribes of Jacob together, and inherit thou them, as from the beginning.[#Jer 31.10.]

12O Lord, have mercy upon the people that is called by thy name, and upon Israel, whom thou hast named thy firstborn.[#Dan 9.18,19; Exod 4.22.]

13O be merciful unto Jerusalem, thy holy city, the place of thy rest.[#2 Chr 6.41; Ps 132.14.]

14Fill Zion with thine unspeakable oracles, and thy people with thy glory:

15Give testimony unto those that thou hast possessed from the beginning, and raise up prophets that have been in thy name.

16Reward them that wait for thee, and let thy prophets be found faithful.

17O Lord, hear the prayer of thy servants, according to the blessing of Aaron over thy people, that all they which dwell upon the earth may know that thou art the Lord, the eternal God.[#Num 6.22-27.]

Discernment

18The belly devoureth all meats, yet is one meat better than another.

19As the palate tasteth divers kinds of venison: so doth an heart of understanding false speeches.[#Job 12.11; 34.3.]

20A froward heart causeth heaviness: but a man of experience will recompense him.

The Benefits of a Good Wife

21A woman will receive every man, yet is one daughter better than another.

22The beauty of a woman cheereth the countenance, and a man loveth nothing better.

23If there be kindness, meekness, and comfort, in her tongue, then is not her husband like other men.

24He that getteth a wife beginneth a possession, a help like unto himself, and a pillar of rest.[#Gen 2.18.]

25Where no hedge is, there the possession is spoiled: and he that hath no wife will wander up and down mourning.

26Who will trust a thief well-appointed, that skippeth from city to city? so [who will believe] a man that hath no house, and lodgeth wheresoever the night taketh him?

King James Version 1611, spelling, punctuation and text formatting modernized by ABS in 1962; typesetting © 2010 American Bible Society.
Published by: American Bible Society