Old Testament · Deuterocanon

Sirach 35

Sacrifice, Prayer, and Divine Justice

5 passages

Overview

Ben Sira teaches that authentic worship before God requires moral obedience, cheerful and proportionate generosity, and humble prayer, while declaring that God — an incorruptible judge unmoved by status or bribery — hears the cry of the widow and the poor and will ultimately render justice to all.

Passages

1–5Obedience and Virtue as True Sacrifice 6–11Righteous and Generous Offering Before God 12–15The God Who Cannot Be Bought: Divine Impartiality and the Cry of the Poor 16–17The Efficacious Prayer of the Humble 18–20The Lord Who Does Not Delay: Justice, Vindication, and the Rain of Mercy

Study Resources

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Sirach 35

¹He who keeps the law multiplies offerings. He who heeds the commandments sacrifices a peace offering. ²He who returns a kindness offers fine flour. He who gives alms sacrifices a thank offering. ³To depart from wickedness pleases the Lord. To depart from unrighteousness is an atoning sacrifice. ⁴See that you don’t appear in the presence of the Lord empty. ⁵For all these things are done because of the commandment. ⁶The offering of the righteous enriches the altar. The sweet fragrance of it is before the Most High. ⁷The sacrifice of a righteous man is acceptable. It won’t be forgotten. ⁸Glorify the Lord with generosity. Don’t reduce the first fruits of your hands. ⁹In every gift show a cheerful countenance, And dedicate your tithe with gladness. ¹⁰Give to the Most High according as he has given. As your hand has found, give generously. ¹¹For the Lord repays, and he will repay you sevenfold. ¹²Don’t plan to bribe him with gifts, for he will not receive them. Don’t set your mind on an unrighteous sacrifice, For the Lord is the judge, and with him is no respect of persons. ¹³He won’t accept any person against a poor man. He will listen to the prayer of him who is wronged. ¹⁴He will in no way despise the supplication of the fatherless or the widow, when she pours out her tale. ¹⁵Don’t the tears of the widow run down her cheek? Isn’t her cry against him who has caused them to fall? ¹⁶He who serves God according to his good pleasure will be accepted. His supplication will reach to the clouds. ¹⁷The prayer of the humble pierces the clouds. until it comes near, he will not be comforted. He won’t depart until the Most High visits and he judges righteously and executes judgment. ¹⁸And the Lord will not be slack, neither will he be patient toward them, until he has crushed the loins of the unmerciful. He will repay vengeance to the heathen until he has taken away the multitude of the arrogant and broken in pieces the sceptres of the unrighteous, ¹⁹until he has rendered to every man according to his deeds, and repaid the works of men according to their plans, until he has judged the cause of his people, and he will make them rejoice in his mercy. ²⁰Mercy is as welcome in the time of his affliction, as clouds of rain in the time of drought.

Sirach 34 Sirach 36