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Sirach 25

25
Things to be praised
1My whole being takes pleasure
in three things,
and these are beautiful to the Lord
and to human beings:
harmony among brothers and sisters,
friendship among neighbors,
and a wife and husband
who adapt to each other.
2My whole being despises
three types of persons,
and I am angered by the way they live:
an arrogant poor person,
a rich liar,
an old adulterer who never learns.
3If you have gathered nothing
in your youth,
how then will you find anything
in your old age?
4How beautiful is sound judgment
in gray-haired women
and finding good advice in elderly men!
5How beautiful is wisdom in the aged
and thought and counsel
in those who are respectable!
6Experience is the crown of the aged
and respecting the Lord
is their claim to fame.
7In my heart, I would consider
nine conditions to be happy,
and I’ll name a tenth with my tongue—
people who are made glad
by their children,
and who live to see the downfall
of their enemies.
8Happy are those
who live with sensible wives,#25.8 Heb adds and who does not plow with an ox and an ass together. Happy are those who; LXX lacks this phrase and the prior line.
who don’t slip with their tongue,
and who haven’t been a servant to one inferior to themselves.
9Happy is the one
who has gained good sense
and who is passing this along
to listening ears.
10How great is one who finds Wisdom,
but no one does better
than the one who fears the Lord.
11Fear of the Lord surpasses everything;
those who possess it are incomparable.#25.11 LXXb adds 25:12 Fear of the Lord is the start of loving him, and faith is the start of clinging to him.
Evil and good women
13Any wound, but not a wound to the heart;
and any wickedness,
but not a woman’s wickedness!
14Any attack,
but not an attack by those who hate;
and any vengeance,
but not the vengeance of enemies.
15No poison is worse than a snake’s poison,#25.15 In both cases, LXX has head.
and no anger is worse
than an enemy’s anger.
16I would rather live with a lion or a serpent
than live with a wicked woman.
17A woman’s wickedness
changes her appearance,
and it darkens her face like that of a bear.
18Her husband sits down among
his neighbors
and unintentionally groans bitterly.
19Any evil is small
when compared to a woman’s evil;
may she experience a sinner’s fate.
20A talkative wife for a quiet husband
is like a sand dune
beneath the feet of an elderly person.
21Don’t fall for a woman’s beauty,
and don’t long for a woman.
22There will be anger, shamelessness,
and utter disgrace
when a wife provides for her husband.
23A wicked wife causes a humiliated heart,
a gloomy face,
and a wounded heart.
Drooping hands and weakened knees
come from a woman
who doesn’t make her husband happy.
24Sin began with a woman,
and because of her all of us die.
25Don’t allow an outlet for water,
and don’t give a wicked wife
freedom to speak.
26If she doesn’t do as you say,
divorce her.#25.26 LXX separate her from your flesh

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Sirach 25: CEB

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