Ben Sira’s Prayer for the Salvation of Israel
About This Entry
This prayer for Israel’s deliverance from foreign nations appears between two chapters of sapiential advice in the book of Ben Sira. Its placement may be due to the mention of God’s mercy at the end of the preceding chapter: “His mercy is as welcome in time of distress / as clouds of rain in times of drought” (Ben Sira 35:26, NRSV).
1Have mercy upon us, O God of all,
2and put all the nations in fear of you.
3Lift up your hand against foreign nations
and let them see your might.
4As you have used us to show your holiness to them,
so use them to show your glory to us.
5Then they will know, as we have known,
that there is no God but you, O Lord.
6Give new signs, and work other wonders;
7make your hand and right arm glorious.
8Rouse your anger and pour out your wrath;
9destroy the adversary and wipe out the enemy.
10Hasten the day, and remember the appointed time,
and let people recount your mighty deeds.
11Let survivors be consumed in the fiery wrath,
and may those who harm your people meet destruction.
12Crush the heads of hostile rulers
who say, “There is no one but ourselves.”
13Gather all the tribes of Jacob,1
16and give them their inheritance, as at the beginning.
17Have mercy, O Lord, on the people called by your name,
on Israel, whom you have named your firstborn,
18Have pity on the city of your sanctuary,
Jerusalem, the place of your dwelling.
19Fill Zion with your majesty,
and your temple with your glory.
20Bear witness to those whom you created in the beginning,
and fulfill the prophecies spoken in your name.
21Reward those who wait for you
and let your prophets be found trustworthy.
22Hear, O Lord, the prayer of your servants, according to your goodwill toward your people,
and all who are on the earth will know
that you are the Lord, the God of the ages.
Translation from the New Revised Standard Version.
We’re sorry. The Posen Library’s licensing agreements prevent this text from being printed or downloaded.
Notes
[Verse numbers 14 and 15 do not appear here because of a dislocation in the Greek manuscripts. No text is omitted.—Ed.]
Credits
New Revised Standard Version Bible copyright © 1989 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.
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 2: Emerging Judaism.
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