Cries in the Midst of Suffering: The Prayer of Sirach and the Lord's Comfort

A Prayer for God’s People Have mercy upon us, O Lord, the God of all, and look upon us, and cause the fear of thee to fall upon all the nations. Lift up thy hand against foreign nations and let them see thy might. As in us thou hast been sanctified before them, so in them be thou magnified before us; and let them know thee, as we have known that there is not God but thee, O Lord. Show signs anew, and work further wonders; make thy hand and thy right arm glorious. Rouse thy anger and pour out thy wrath; destroy the adversary and wipe out the enemy. Hasten the day, and remember the appointed time, and let people recount thy mighty deeds. Let him who survives be consumed in the fiery wrath, and may those who harm thy people meet destruction. Crush the heads of the rulers of the enemy, who say, “There is no one but ourselves.” Gather all the tribes of Jacob, and give them their inheritance, as at the beginning. Have mercy, O Lord, upon the people called by thy name, upon Israel, whom thou hast likened to a first-born son. Have pity on the city of thy sanctuary, Jerusalem, the place of thy rest. Fill Zion with the celebration of thy wondrous deeds, and thy temple with thy glory. Bear witness to those whom thou didst create in the beginning, and fulfil the prophecies spoken in thy name. Reward those who wait for thee, and let thy prophets be found trustworthy. Hearken, O Lord, to the prayer of thy servants, according to the blessing of Aaron for thy people, and all who are on the earth will know that thou art the Lord, the God of the ages. Concerning Discrimination The stomach will take any food, yet one food is better than another. As the palate tastes the kinds of game, so an intelligent mind detects false words. A perverse mind will cause grief, but a man of experience will pay him back. A woman will accept any man, but one daughter is better than another. A woman’s beauty gladdens the countenance, and surpasses every human desire. If kindness and humility mark her speech, her husband is not like other men. He who acquires a wife gets his best possession, a helper fit for him and a pillar of support. Where there is no fence, the property will be plundered; and where there is no wife, a man will wander about and sigh. For who will trust a nimble robber that skips from city to city? So who will trust a man that has no home, and lodges wherever night finds him?

Sirach 36:1–20 is a corporate lament interspersed with bold petition. The opening lines plead for mercy upon 'the people called by thy name' (36:12) and ask that God 'show signs anew' (36:5). The text ends with the assurance that 'all who are on the earth will know that thou art the Lord, the God of the ages' (36:17). It is a prayer forged in the furnace of suffering, where the only ground for hope is the unchanging character of God.