Sirach’s thanksgiving for rescue

This prayer closes the Book of Sirach. Slandered to the king and close to death, Sirach cried to God, and here he thanks Him for rescue.

Picture: Briton Rivière, Daniel in the Lions’ Den, 1872 (a warmed copy)

Plain English

I will give thanks to You, O Lord and King,and praise You, O God my Saviour.I give thanks to Your name,for You have been my shelter and my helper.You have rescued my body from destruction,from the trap of a slandering tongueand from lips that make up lies.In front of those who stood around me,You were my helper.

In the greatness of Your mercy and Your nameYou rescued me from the gnashing teeth of those ready to devour me,from the hand of those who sought my life,and from the many troubles I had;from the choking fire all around me,from the middle of a fire I had not lit;from deep in the belly of the grave,from an unclean tongue and a lying word.

An unjust tongue slandered me to the king.My soul came near to death,and my life was close to the grave below.They surrounded me on every side,and there was no one to help.I looked for help from people,and there was none.

Then I remembered Your mercy, Lord,and the things You have done from of old:how You rescue those who wait for Youand save them from the hand of the nations.And I lifted up my plea from the earthand prayed to be rescued from death.I called on the Lord, the Father of my Lord,not to forsake me in the days of trouble,in the time of the proud, when I had no help.

I will praise Your name without ceasingand sing to You with thanksgiving.And my prayer was heard,for You saved me from destructionand rescued me from an evil time.So I will give thanks and praise You,and bless the name of the Lord.

Traditional wording, 1851

I will thank Thee, O Lord and King, and praise Thee, O God my Saviour: I do give praise unto Thy name:for Thou art my defender and helper, and hast preserved my body from destruction, and from the snare of the slanderous tongue, and from the lips that forge lies, and hast been mine helper against mine adversaries:

and hast delivered me, according to the multitude of Thy mercies and greatness of Thy name, from the teeth of them that were ready to devour me, and out of the hands of such as sought after my life, and from the manifold afflictions which I had;from the choking of fire on every side, and from the midst of the fire which I kindled not;from the depth of the belly of hell, from an unclean tongue, and from lying words.

By an accusation to the king from an unrighteous tongue my soul drew near even unto death, my life was near to the hell beneath.They compassed me on every side, and there was no man to help me: I looked for the succour of men, but there was none.

Then thought I upon Thy mercy, O Lord, and upon Thy acts of old, how Thou deliverest such as wait for Thee, and savest them out of the hands of the enemies.Then lifted I up my supplication from the earth, and prayed for deliverance from death.I called upon the Lord, the Father of my Lord, that He would not leave me in the days of my trouble, and in the time of the proud, when there was no help.

I will praise Thy name continually, and will sing praise with thanksgiving; and so my prayer was heard:for Thou savedst me from destruction, and deliveredst me from the evil time: therefore will I give thanks, and praise Thee, and bless Thy name, O Lord.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Greek of Sirach 51:1-12, with Brenton’s 1851 English beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: Lancelot C. L. Brenton, The Septuagint Version of the Old Testament, 1851.

In verse 8 Brenton has “out of the hands of the enemies”, where the Greek says “the nations”, as the plain wording does.

When it is said

Pray it when a lie told about you has been put right, or when you have come through a time when people turned against you.

The middle of the prayer, where Sirach looks for help and finds none, can be prayed while the trouble is still going on.

Where it comes from

Author known

The end of Sirach’s book

The Book of Sirach holds the wisdom of Jesus son of Sirach, who studied the law and the prophets and wrote a book of his own in Hebrew. His grandson found it after coming to Egypt and put it into Greek. This prayer closes the book, and the King James Version heads it “A Prayer of Jesus the son of Sirach”.

The prologue to Sirach, King James Version, on eBible; King James Version, on eBible

In the Orthodox Bible

Sirach is one of the books the Orthodox Church keeps in its Bible. They were in the Septuagint, the Greek Bible in use in the time of Jesus and His apostles. Protestants do not count them as part of the Bible.

Apocrypha, OrthodoxWiki

In Greek

Ἐξομολογήσομαι σοι Κύριε βασιλεῦ, καὶ αἰνέσω σε Θεὸν τὸν σωτῆρά μου· ἐξομολογοῦμαι τῷ ὀνόματί σου,

ὅτι σκεπαστὴς καὶ βοηθὸς ἐγένου μοι, καὶ ἐλυτρώσω τὸ σῶμά μου ἐξ ἀπωλείας, καὶ ἐκ παγίδος διαβολῆς γλώσσης· ἀπὸ χειλέων ἐργαζομένων ψεῦδος, καὶ ἔναντι τῶν παρεστηκότων ἐγένου μοι βοηθὸς,

καὶ ἐλυτρώσω με, κατὰ τὸ πλῆθος ἐλέους καὶ ὀνόματός σου, ἐκ βρυγμῶν ἑτοίμων εἰς βρῶμα, ἐκ χειρὸς ζητούντων τὴν ψυχήν μου, ἐκ πλειόνων θλίψεων ὧν ἔσχον,

ἀπὸ πνιγμοῦ πυρὸς κυκλόθεν, καὶ ἐκ μέσου πυρὸς οὗ οὐκ ἐξέκαυσα,

ἐκ βάθους κοιλίας ᾅδου, καὶ ἀπὸ γλώσσης ἀκαθάρτου, καὶ λόγου ψευδοῦς.

Βασιλεῖ διαβολὴ γλώσσης ἀδίκου· ᾔγγισεν ἕως θανάτου ἡ ψυχή μου, καὶ ἡ ζωή μου ἦν σύνεγγυς ᾅδου κάτω.

Περιέσχον με πάντοθεν, καὶ οὐκ ἦν ὁ βοηθῶν· ἐμβλέπων εἰς ἀντίληψιν ἀνθρώπων, καὶ οὐκ ἦν.

Καὶ ἐμνήσθην τοῦ ἐλέους σου Κύριε, καὶ τῆς ἐργασίας σου τῆς ἀπʼ αἰῶνος· ὅτι ἐξελῇ τοὺς ὑπομένοντάς σε, καὶ σώζεις αὐτοὺς ἐκ χειρὸς ἐθνῶν.

Καὶ ἀνύψωσα ἐπὶ γῆς ἱκετείαν μου, καὶ ὑπὲρ θανάτου ῥύσεως ἐδεήθην.

Ἐπεκαλεσάμην Κύριον πατέρα Κυρίου μου, μή με ἐγκαταλιπεῖν ἐν ἡμέραις θλίψεως, ἐν καιρῷ ὑπερηφάνων ἀβοηθησίας.

Αἰνέσω τὸ ὄνομά σου ἐνδελεχῶς, καὶ ὑμνήσω ἐν ἐξομολογήσει· καὶ εἰσηκούσθη ἡ δέησίς μου.

Ἔσωσας γάρ με ἐξ ἀπωλείας, καὶ ἐξείλου με ἐκ καιροῦ πονηροῦ· διὰ τοῦτο ἐξομολογήσομαι καὶ αἰνέσω σοι, καὶ εὐλογήσω τῷ ὀνόματι Κυρίου.

From the Septuagint, Brenton’s Greek text, on eBible.

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