Those Who Are Worthy of Praise
25 I take pleasure in three things,
and they are beautiful in the sight of God and of mortals:[a]
agreement among brothers and sisters, friendship among neighbors,
and a wife and a husband who live in harmony.(A)
2 I hate three kinds of people,
and I loathe their manner of life:
a pauper who boasts, a rich person who lies,
and an old adulterer who lacks sense.(B)
3 If you gathered nothing in your youth,
how can you find anything in your old age?(C)
4 How attractive is sound judgment in gray-haired women
and for aged men to possess good counsel!(D)
5 How attractive is wisdom in the aged
and understanding and counsel in the venerable!
6 Rich experience is the crown of the aged,
and their boast is the fear of the Lord.(E)
7 I can think of nine whom I would call happy,
and a tenth my tongue proclaims:
a man who can rejoice in his children,
who lives to see the downfall of his foes.(F)
8 Happy the man who lives with a sensible wife
and who does not plow with ox and ass together,[b]
who does not slip with the tongue
and who has not become enslaved to an inferior.(G)
9 Happy is the one who finds good sense
and the one who speaks to attentive listeners.(H)
10 How great is the one who finds wisdom!
But none is superior to the one who fears the Lord.(I)
11 Fear of the Lord surpasses everything;
to whom can we compare the one who has it?[c](J)
Some Extreme Forms of Evil
13 Any wound, but not a wound of the heart!
Any wickedness, but not the wickedness of a woman!(K)
14 Any suffering, but not suffering from those who hate!
And any vengeance, but not the vengeance of enemies!
15 There is no venom[d] worse than a snake’s venom[e]
and no anger worse than a woman’s[f] wrath.
The Evil of a Wicked Woman
16 I would rather live with a lion and a dragon
than live with an evil woman.(L)
17 A woman’s wickedness changes her appearance
and darkens her face like that of a bear.(M)
18 Her husband sits[g] among the neighbors,
and he cannot help sighing[h] bitterly.
19 Any iniquity is small compared to a woman’s iniquity;
may a sinner’s lot befall her!(N)
20 A sandy ascent for the feet of the aged—
such is a garrulous wife to a quiet husband.(O)
21 Do not be ensnared by a woman’s beauty,
and do not desire a woman for her possessions.[i](P)
22 There is wrath and impudence and great disgrace
when a wife supports her husband.
23 Dejected mind, gloomy face,
and wounded heart come from an evil wife.
Drooping hands and weak knees
come from the wife who does not make her husband happy.(Q)
24 From a woman sin had its beginning,
and because of her we all die.(R)
25 Allow no outlet to water
and no boldness of speech to an evil wife.(S)
26 If she does not go as you direct,
separate her from yourself.(T)
Footnotes
- 25.1Syr Lat: Gk In three things I was beautiful, and I stood in beauty before the Lord and mortals
- 25.8Heb Syr: Gk lacks and the one who does not plow with ox and ass together
- 25.11Other ancient authorities add as 25.12: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of love for him, and faith is the beginning of clinging to him.
- 25.15Syr: Gk head
- 25.15Syr: Gk head
- 25.15Other ancient authorities read an enemy’s
- 25.18Heb Syr: Gk loses heart
- 25.18Other ancient authorities read and listening he sighs
- 25.21Heb Syr: Gk lacks for her possessions
Cross references
- 25.1 : Lev 19.18; Ps 133.1; Sir 26.1–3; Rom 12.10
- 25.2 : Prov 17.7; Sir 20.24; 23.16
- 25.3 : Prov 6.6–11
- 25.4 : Job 32.7
- 25.6 : Prov 16.31; Wis 8.8
- 25.7 : Prov 10.1; 23.24
- 25.8 : Deut 22.10; Sir 14.1
- 25.9 : Prov 3.13
- 25.10 : Prov 3.13; Sir 10.24
- 25.11 : Sir 23.27; 40.26
- 25.13 : v 19; Prov 18.14; Eccl 7.26; Sir 42.13
- 25.16 : Prov 21.9, 19; 25.24
- 25.17 : Prov 17.12; Eccl 7.26; Sir 42.13
- 25.19 : v 13
- 25.20 : Prov 21.19; Sir 26.27
- 25.21 : Prov 6.25; Sir 9.8; 42.12
- 25.23 : Job 4.3, 4; Isa 35.3; Heb 12.12
- 25.24 : Gen 3.6; Rom 5.12; 1 Tim 2.14
- 25.25 : Prov 17.14
- 25.26 : Deut 24.1; Mt 19.7