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“‘O Lord Almighty, God of Israel, the soul in anguish and the wearied spirit cry out to thee. Hear, O Lord, and have mercy, for we have sinned before thee. For thou art enthroned for ever, and we are perishing for ever. O Lord Almighty, God of Israel, hear now the prayer of the dead of Israel and of the sons of those who sinned before thee, who did not heed the voice of the Lord their God, so that calamities have clung to us. Remember not the iniquities of our fathers, but in this crisis remember thy power and thy name. For thou art the Lord our God, and thee, O Lord, will we praise. For thou hast put the fear of thee in our hearts in order that we should call upon thy name; and we will praise thee in our exile, for we have put away from our hearts all the iniquity of our fathers who sinned before thee. Behold, we are today in our exile where thou hast scattered us, to be reproached and cursed and punished for all the iniquities of our fathers who forsook the Lord our God.’”

In Praise of Wisdom

Hear the commandments of life, O Israel;
    give ear, and learn wisdom!
10 Why is it, O Israel, why is it that you are in the land of your enemies,
    that you are growing old in a foreign country,
that you are defiled with the dead,
11     that you are counted among those in Hades?
12 You have forsaken the fountain of wisdom.
13 If you had walked in the way of God,
    you would be dwelling in peace for ever.
14 Learn where there is wisdom,
    where there is strength,
    where there is understanding,
that you may at the same time discern
    where there is length of days, and life,
    where there is light for the eyes, and peace.

15 Who has found her place?
    And who has entered her storehouses?
16 Where are the princes of the nations,
    and those who rule over the beasts on earth;
17 those who have sport with the birds of the air,
    and who hoard up silver and gold,
in which men trust,
    and there is no end to their getting;
18 those who scheme to get silver, and are anxious,
    whose labors are beyond measure?
19 They have vanished and gone down to Hades,
    and others have arisen in their place.

20 Young men have seen the light of day,
    and have dwelt upon the earth;
but they have not learned the way to knowledge,
    nor understood her paths,
    nor laid hold of her.
21 Their sons have strayed far from her[a] way.
22 She has not been heard of in Canaan,
    nor seen in Teman;
23 the sons of Hagar, who seek for understanding on the earth,
    the merchants of Merran and Teman,
    the story-tellers and the seekers for understanding,
have not learned the way to wisdom,
    nor given thought to her paths.

24 O Israel, how great is the house of God!
    And how vast the territory that he possesses!
25 It is great and has no bounds;
    it is high and immeasurable.
26 The giants were born there, who were famous of old,
    great in stature, expert in war.
27 God did not choose them,
    nor give them the way to knowledge;
28 so they perished because they had no wisdom,
    they perished through their folly.

29 Who has gone up into heaven, and taken her,
    and brought her down from the clouds?
30 Who has gone over the sea, and found her,
    and will buy her for pure gold?
31 No one knows the way to her,
    or is concerned about the path to her.
32 But he who knows all things knows her,
    he found her by his understanding.
He who prepared the earth for all time
    filled it with four-footed creatures;
33 he who sends forth the light, and it goes,
    called it, and it obeyed him in fear;
34 the stars shone in their watches, and were glad;
    he called them, and they said, “Here we are!”
    They shone with gladness for him who made them.
35 This is our God;
    no other can be compared to him!
36 He found the whole way to knowledge,
    and gave her to Jacob his servant
    and to Israel whom he loved.
37 Afterward she appeared upon earth
    and lived among men.

She is the book of the commandments of God,
    and the law that endures for ever.
All who hold her fast will live,
    and those who forsake her will die.
Turn, O Jacob, and take her;
    walk toward the shining of her light.
Do not give your glory to another,
    or your advantages to an alien people.
Happy are we, O Israel,
    for we know what is pleasing to God.

Encouragement for Israel

Take courage, my people,
    O memorial of Israel!
It was not for destruction
    that you were sold to the nations,
but you were handed over to your enemies
    because you angered God.
For you provoked him who made you,
    by sacrificing to demons and not to God.
You forgot the everlasting God, who brought you up,
    and you grieved Jerusalem, who reared you.
For she saw the wrath that came upon you from God,
    and she said:
“Hearken, you neighbors of Zion,
    God has brought great sorrow upon me;
10 for I have seen the captivity of my sons and daughters,
    which the Everlasting brought upon them.
11 With joy I nurtured them,
    but I sent them away with weeping and sorrow.
12 Let no one rejoice over me, a widow
    and bereaved of many;
I was left desolate because of the sins of my children,
    because they turned away from the law of God.
13 They had no regard for his statutes;
    they did not walk in the ways of God’s commandments,
    nor tread the paths of discipline in his righteousness.
14 Let the neighbors of Zion come;
    remember the capture of my sons and daughters,
    which the Everlasting brought upon them.
15 For he brought against them a nation from afar,
    a shameless nation, of a strange language,
who had no respect for an old man,
    and had no pity for a child.
16 They led away the widow’s beloved sons,
    and bereaved the lonely woman of her daughters.

17 “But I, how can I help you?
18 For he who brought these calamities upon you
    will deliver you from the hand of your enemies.
19 Go, my children, go;
    for I have been left desolate.
20 I have taken off the robe of peace
    and put on the sackcloth of my supplication;
    I will cry to the Everlasting all my days.
21 “Take courage, my children, cry to God,
    and he will deliver you from the power and hand of the enemy.
22 For I have put my hope in the Everlasting to save you,
    and joy has come to me from the Holy One,
because of the mercy which soon will come to you
    from your everlasting Savior.[b]
23 For I sent you out with sorrow and weeping,
    but God will give you back to me with joy and gladness for ever.
24 For as the neighbors of Zion have now seen your capture,
    so they soon will see your salvation by God,
which will come to you with great glory
    and with the splendor of the Everlasting.
25 My children, endure with patience the wrath that has come upon you from God.
Your enemy has overtaken you,
    but you will soon see their destruction
    and will tread upon their necks.
26 My tender sons have traveled rough roads;
    they were taken away like a flock carried off by the enemy.

27 “Take courage, my children, and cry to God,
    for you will be remembered by him who brought this upon you.
28 For just as you purposed to go astray from God,
    return with tenfold zeal to seek him.
29 For he who brought these calamities upon you
    will bring you everlasting joy with your salvation.”

Jerusalem Is Assured of Help

30 Take courage, O Jerusalem,
    for he who named you will comfort you.
31 Wretched will be those who afflicted you
    and rejoiced at your fall.
32 Wretched will be the cities which your children served as slaves;
    wretched will be the city which received your sons.
33 For just as she rejoiced at your fall
    and was glad for your ruin,
    so she will be grieved at her own desolation.
34 And I will take away her pride in her great population,
    and her insolence will be turned to grief.
35 For fire will come upon her from the Everlasting for many days,
    and for a long time she will be inhabited by demons.

36 Look toward the east, O Jerusalem,
    and see the joy that is coming to you from God!
37 Behold, your sons are coming, whom you sent away;
    they are coming, gathered from east and west,
at the word of the Holy One,
    rejoicing in the glory of God.

Footnotes

  1. Baruch 3:21 Other authorities read their
  2. Baruch 4:22 Or from the Everlasting, your Savior

The Joy of a Good Wife

26 Happy is the husband of a good wife;
    the number of his days will be doubled.
A loyal wife rejoices her husband,
    and he will complete his years in peace.
A good wife is a great blessing;
    she will be granted among the blessings of the man who fears the Lord.
Whether rich or poor, his heart is glad,
    and at all times his face is cheerful.

The Worst of Evils: A Wicked Wife

Of three things my heart is afraid,
    and of a fourth I am frightened:[a]
The slander of a city, the gathering of a mob,
    and false accusation—all these are worse than death.
There is grief of heart and sorrow when a wife is envious of a rival,
    and a tongue-lashing makes it known to all.
An evil wife is an ox yoke which chafes;
    taking hold of her is like grasping a scorpion.
There is great anger when a wife is drunken;
    she will not hide her shame.
A wife’s harlotry shows in her lustful eyes,
    and she is known by her eyelids.
10 Keep strict watch over a headstrong daughter,
    lest, when she finds liberty, she use it to her hurt.
11 Be on guard against her impudent eye,
    and do not wonder if she sins against you.
12 As a thirsty wayfarer opens his mouth
    and drinks from any water near him,
so will she sit in front of every post
    and open her quiver to the arrow.

The Blessing of a Good Wife

13 A wife’s charm delights her husband,
    and her skill puts fat on his bones.
14 A silent wife is a gift of the Lord,
    and there is nothing so precious as a disciplined soul.
15 A modest wife adds charm to charm,
    and no balance can weigh the value of a chaste soul.
16 Like the sun rising in the heights of the Lord,
    so is the beauty of a good wife in her well-ordered home.
17 Like the shining lamp on the holy lampstand,
    so is a beautiful face on a stately figure.
18 Like pillars of gold on a base of silver,
    so are beautiful feet with a steadfast heart.[b]

Three Depressing Things

28 At two things my heart is grieved,
    and because of a third anger comes over me:
a warrior in want through poverty,
    and intelligent men who are treated contemptuously;
a man who turns back from righteousness to sin—
    the Lord will prepare him for the sword!

The Temptations of Commerce

29 A merchant can hardly keep from wrongdoing,
    and a tradesman will not be declared innocent of sin.

Footnotes

  1. Sirach 26:5 The Greek of this line is uncertain
  2. Sirach 26:18 Other authorities add verses 19–27: 19 My son, keep sound the bloom of your youth, and do not give your strength to strangers. 20 Seek a fertile field within the whole plain, and sow it with your own seed, trusting in your fine stock. 21 So your offspring will survive and, having confidence in their good descent, will grow great. 22 A harlot is regarded as spittle, and a married woman as a tower of death to her lovers. 23 A godless wife is given as a portion to a lawless man, but a pious wife is given to the man who fears the Lord. 24 A shameless woman constantly acts disgracefully, but a modest daughter will even be embarrassed before her husband. 25 A headstrong wife is regarded as a dog, but one who has a sense of shame will fear the Lord. 26 A wife honoring her husband will seem wise to all, but is she dishonors him in her pride she will be known to all as ungodly. Happy is the husband of a good wife; for the number of his years will be doubled. 27 A loud-voiced and garrulous wife is regarded as a war trumpet for putting the enemy to flight, and every person like this lives in the anarchy of war.

16 “I have said all this to you to keep you from falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues; indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do this because they have not known the Father, nor me. But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you of them.

The Work of the Spirit

“I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convince the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 of righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more;[a] 11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

12 “I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

Sorrow Will Turn into Joy

16 “A little while, and you will see me no more; again a little while, and you will see me.” 17 Some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, ‘because I go to the Father’?” 18 They said, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We do not know what he means.” 19 Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him; so he said to them, “Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’? 20 Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. 21 When a woman is in travail she has sorrow, because her hour has come; but when she is delivered of the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a child[b] is born into the world. 22 So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. 23 In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father, he will give it to you in my name. 24 Hitherto you have asked nothing in my name; ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

Peace for the Disciples

25 “I have said this to you in figures; the hour is coming when I shall no longer speak to you in figures but tell you plainly of the Father. 26 In that day you will ask in my name; and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; 27 for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from the Father. 28 I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”

29 His disciples said, “Ah, now you are speaking plainly, not in any figure! 30 Now we know that you know all things, and need none to question you; by this we believe that you came from God.” 31 Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? 32 The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, every man to his home, and will leave me alone; yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. 33 I have said this to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

Footnotes

  1. 16.10 Jesus is taken from them because they did not receive him.
  2. John 16:21 Greek a human being

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