Sirach 36:18-26
Good News Translation
Choosing a Wife
18 Any kind of food can be eaten, but some foods are better than others. 19 And just as the tongue can distinguish the flavors of different kinds of meat, so a sharp mind can detect lies. 20 A person with a warped mind causes trouble, but an experienced person knows how to pay it back.
21 A woman has to take any man as a husband, but a man must choose his wife carefully. 22 A woman's beauty makes a man happy; there is no fairer sight for the human eye to see. 23 If the woman is kind and gentle in her speech, her husband is the most fortunate of men. 24 When a man marries, he gets the finest thing he will ever have—a wife to help and encourage him.
25 If property is not fenced in, thieves will wander in and help themselves. And if a man has no wife, he is a sighing wanderer; 26 people have no more trust in a homeless person who sleeps in a different place every night than they have in a wandering thief who goes from town to town.
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Sirach 36:18-27
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
18 Have pity on the city of your sanctuary,[a]
Jerusalem, the place of your dwelling.[b](A)
19 Fill Zion with your majesty[c]
and your temple[d] with your glory.(B)
20 Bear witness to those whom you created in the beginning,
and fulfill the prophecies spoken in your name.
21 Reward those who wait for you,
and let your prophets be found trustworthy.(C)
22 Hear, O Lord, the prayer of your servants, according to your goodwill toward[e] your people,
and all who are on the earth will know
that you are the Lord, the God of the ages.(D)
Concerning Discrimination
23 The stomach will take any food,
yet one food is better than another.
24 As the palate tastes the kinds of game,
so an intelligent mind detects false words.(E)
25 A perverse mind will cause grief,
but a person with experience will pay him back.(F)
26 A woman will accept any man as a husband,
but one daughter is preferable to another.
27 A woman’s beauty lights up a man’s face,
and there is nothing he desires more.(G)
Sirach 36:18-27
New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised
18 Have pity on the city of your sanctuary,[a]
Jerusalem, the place of your dwelling.[b]
19 Fill Zion with your majesty,[c]
and your temple[d] with your glory.
20 Bear witness to those whom you created in the beginning,
and fulfil the prophecies spoken in your name.
21 Reward those who wait for you
and let your prophets be found trustworthy.
22 Hear, O Lord, the prayer of your servants, according to your goodwill towards[e] your people,
and all who are on the earth will know
that you are the Lord, the God of the ages.
Concerning Discrimination
23 The stomach will take any food,
yet one food is better than another.
24 As the palate tastes the kinds of game,
so an intelligent mind detects false words.
25 A perverse mind will cause grief,
but a person with experience will pay him back.
26 A woman will accept any man as a husband,
but one girl is preferable to another.
27 A woman’s beauty lights up a man’s face,
and there is nothing he desires more.
Footnotes
- Sirach 36:18 Or on your holy city
- Sirach 36:18 Heb: Gk your rest
- Sirach 36:19 Heb Syr: Gk the celebration of your wondrous deeds
- Sirach 36:19 Heb Syr: Gk Lat people
- Sirach 36:22 Heb and two Gk witnesses: Lat and most Gk witnesses read according to the blessing of Aaron for
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.