Sirach

¹I enjoy three things, and they are beautiful before the Lord and men: the agreement of kindred, the friendship of neighbors, and a woman and her husband who walk together in agreement. ²But my soul hates three sorts of people, and I am greatly offended at their life: a poor man who is arrogant, a rich man who is a liar, and an old fool who is an adulterer. ³If you gathered nothing in your youth, how could you find anything in your old age? ⁴How beautiful a thing is judgment in the gray-haired, and for elders to know good counsel! ⁵How beautiful is the wisdom of old men, and understanding and counsel to men who are in honor! ⁶Much experience is the crown of the aged. Their glory is the fear of the Lord. ⁷There are nine things that I have thought of, and in my heart counted happy, and the tenth I will utter with my tongue: a man who has joy with his children, and a man who lives and sees the fall of his enemies. ⁸Happy is he who dwells with a wife of understanding, he who has not slipped with his tongue, and he who has not served a man who is unworthy of him. ⁹Happy is he who has found prudence, and he who speaks in the ears of those who listen. ¹⁰How great is he who has found wisdom! Yet there is none greater than one who fears the Lord. ¹¹The fear of the Lord surpasses all things. To whom shall he who holds it be likened?

¹³Any wound but a wound of the heart! Any wickedness but the wickedness of a woman! ¹⁴Any calamity but a calamity from those who hate me! Any vengeance but the vengeance of enemies! ¹⁵There is no venom worse than a snake’s venom. There is no wrath worse than an enemy’s wrath.

¹⁶I would rather dwell with a lion and a dragon than keep house with a wicked woman. ¹⁷The wickedness of a woman changes her appearance, and darkens her countenance like that of a bear. ¹⁸Her husband will sit among his neighbors, and when he hears it, he sighs bitterly. ¹⁹All malice is small compared to the malice of a woman. Let the portion of a sinner fall on her. ²⁰As walking up a sandy hill is to the feet of the aged, so is a wife full of words to a quiet man. ²¹Don’t be ensnared by a woman’s beauty. Don’t desire a woman for her beauty. ²²There is anger, impudence, and great reproach if a woman supports her husband. ²³A wicked woman is abasement of heart, sadness of countenance, and a wounded heart. A woman who won’t make her husband happy is like hands that hang down, and weak knees. ²⁴The beginning of sin came from a woman. Because of her, we all die. ²⁵Don’t give water an outlet, and don’t give a wicked woman freedom of speech. ²⁶If she doesn’t go as you direct, cut her away from your flesh.