Sirach 36

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	NEW JERUSALEM
1 Come to our aid, O God of the universe, and put all the nations in dread of you!	1 Take pity on us, Master, Lord of the universe, look at us, spread fear of yourself throughout al othernations.
2 Raise your hand against the heathen, that they may realize your power.	2 Raise your hand against the foreign nations and let them see your might.
3 As you have used us to show them your holiness, so now use them to show us your glory.	3 As, in their sight, you have proved yourself holy to us, so now, in our sight, prove yourself great to them.
4 Thus they will know, as we know, that there is no God but you.	4 Let them acknowledge you, just as we have acknowledged that there is no God but you, Lord.
5 Give new signs and work new wonders; show forth the splendor of your right hand and arm;	5 Send new portents, do fresh wonders, win glory for your hand and your right arm.
6 Rouse your anger, pour out wrath, humble the enemy, scatter the foe.	6 Rouse your fury, pour out your rage, destroy the opponent, annihilate the enemy.
7 Hasten the day, bring on the time;	7 Hasten the day, remember the oath, and let people tell of your mighty deeds.
8 Let raging fire consume the fugitive, and your people's oppressors meet destruction.	8 Let fiery wrath swal ow up the survivor, and destruction overtake those who oppress your people.
9 crush the heads of the hostile rulers.	9 Crush the heads of hostile rulers who say, 'There is no one else but us!'
10 Gather all the tribes of Jacob, that they may inherit the land as of old,	10 Gather together all the tribes of Jacob, restore them their heritage as at the beginning.
11 Show mercy to the people called by your name; Israel, whom you named your first-born.	11 Take pity, Lord, on the people cal ed by your name, on Israel whom you have made your first-born.
12 Take pity on your holy city, Jerusalem, your dwelling place.	12 Have compassion on your holy city, on Jerusalem, the place where you rest.
13 Fill Zion with your majesty, your temple with your glory.	13 Fil Zion with your praises and your sanctuary with your glory.
14 Give evidence of your deeds of old; fulfill the prophecies spoken in your name,	14 Vindicate those whom you created first, fulfil what has been prophesied in your name.
15 Reward those who have hoped in you, and let your prophets be proved true.	15 Give those who wait for you their reward, let your prophets be proved true.
16 Hear the prayer of your servants, for you are ever gracious to your people;	16 Grant, Lord, the prayer of your servants, in the terms of Aaron's blessing on your people,
17 Thus it will be known to the very ends of the earth that you are the eternal God.	17 so that al the earth's inhabitants may acknowledge that you are the Lord, the everlasting God.
18 The throat can swallow any food, yet some foods are more agreeable than others;	18 The stomach takes in all kinds of food, but some foods are better than others.
19 As the palate tests meat by its savor, so does a keen mind insincere words.	19 As the palate discerns the flavour of game, so a shrewd listener detects lying words.
20 A deceitful character causes grief, but an experienced man can turn the tables on him.	20 A perverse character causes depression in others; it needs experience to know how to repay such aone.
21 Though any man may be accepted as a husband, yet one girl will be more suitable than another:	21 A woman wil accept any husband, but some daughters are better than others.
22 A woman's beauty makes her husband's face light up, for it surpasses all else that charms the eye;	22 A woman's beauty delights the beholder, a man likes nothing better.
23 And if, besides, her speech is kindly, his lot is beyond that of mortal men.	23 If her tongue is kind and gentle, her husband is the happiest of men.
24 A wife is her husband's richest treasure, a helpmate, a steadying column.	24 The man who takes a wife has the makings of a fortune, a helper to match himself, a pil ar of support.
25 A vineyard with no hedge will be overrun; a man with no wife becomes a homeless wanderer.	25 When property has no fence, it is open to plunder, when a man has no wife, he is aimless andquerulous.
26 Who will trust an armed band that shifts from city to city?	26 Wil anyone trust an armed thief who flits from town to town?
27 Or a man who has no nest, but lodges where night overtakes him?	27 So it is with the man who has no nest, and lodges wherever night overtakes him.