Ben Sira 36:18-27
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
18 Take pity on your holy city:
Jerusalem, your dwelling place.(A)
19 Fill Zion with your majesty,
your temple with your glory.
20 Give evidence of your deeds of old;
fulfill the prophecies spoken in your name.
21 Reward those who have hoped in you,
and let your prophets be proved true.
22 Hear the prayer of your servants,
according to your good will toward your people.
Thus all the ends of the earth will know
that you are the eternal God.
Choice of Associates[a]
23 The throat can swallow any food,
yet some foods are more agreeable than others.
24 The palate tests delicacies put forward as gifts,
so does a keen mind test deceitful tidbits.
25 One with a tortuous heart brings about grief,
but an experienced person can turn the tables on him.
26 A woman will accept any man as husband,
but one woman will be preferable to another.
27 A woman’s beauty makes her husband’s face light up,
for it surpasses all else that delights the eye.(B)
Footnotes
- 36:23–37:15 In the choice of wife, friend, or associate, experience is a discerner of character (36:23–26). Beauty and soothing speech make a woman desirable as wife (36:27–28). The good wife becomes her husband’s richest treasure, his help in establishing his household (36:29–31). Good friends fight for comrades and share the spoils with them (37:5–6); false friends deceive and abandon in time of need (37:1–4). A true counselor and associate should be sought among those who keep the commandments, not among those who break them and seek their own advantage (37:7–12). In all things one should pray to God for light and follow conscience (37:13–15).
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