Sirach 25

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? ¹²

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.1

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.1

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.