Sirach 36 — BST
36Verse 1There shall no evil happen unto him that feareth the Lord; but in temptation even again he will deliver him.Verse 2A wise man hateth not the law; but he that is an hypocrite therein is as a ship in a storm.Verse 3A man of understanding trusteth in the law; and the law is faithful unto him, as an oracle.Verse 4Prepare what to say, and so thou shalt be heard: and bind up instruction, and then make answer.Verse 5The heart of the foolish is like a cartwheel; and his thoughts are like a rolling axle-tree.Verse 6A stallion horse is as a mocking friend, he neigheth under every one that sitteth upon him.Verse 7Why doth one day excel another, when as all the light of every day in the year is of the sun?Verse 8By the knowledge of the Lord they were distinguished: and he altered seasons and feasts.Verse 9Some of them hath he made high days, and hallowed them, and some of them hath he made ordinary days.Verse 10And all men are from the ground, and Adam was created of earth.Verse 11In much knowledge the Lord hath divided them, and made their ways diverse.Verse 12Some of them hath he blessed and exalted, and some of them hath he sanctified, and set near himself: but some of them hath he cursed and brought low, and turned out of their places.Verse 13As the clay is in the potter's hand, to fashion it at his pleasure: so man is in the hand of him that made him, to render to them as liketh him best.Verse 14Good is set against evil, and life against death: so is the godly against the sinner, and the sinner against the godly.Verse 15So look upon all the works of the most High; and there are two and two, one against another.Verse 16Though I was the last to wake up, yet I received their inheritance as from the beginning.Verse 17O Lord have mercy upon the people that is called by thy name, and upon Israel, whom thou hast named thy firstborn.Verse 18O be merciful unto Jerusalem, thy holy city, the place of thy rest.Verse 19Fill Sion with thine unspeakable oracles, and thy people with thy glory.Verse 20Give testimony unto those that thou hast possessed from the beginning, and raise up prophets that have been in thy name.Verse 21Reward them that wait for thee, and let thy prophets be found faithful.Verse 22O 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.Verse 23The belly devoureth all meats, yet is one meat better than another.Verse 24As the palate tasteth divers kinds of venison: so doth an heart of understanding false speeches.Verse 25A froward heart causeth heaviness: but a man of experience will recompense him.Verse 26A woman will receive every man, yet is one daughter better than another.Verse 27The beauty of a woman cheereth the countenance, and a man loveth nothing better.Verse 28If there be kindness, meekness, and comfort, in her tongue, then is not her husband like other men.Verse 29He that getteth a wife beginneth a possession, a help like unto himself, and a pillar of rest.Verse 30Where no hedge is, there the possession is spoiled: and he that hath no wife will wander up and down mourning.Verse 31Who 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?