Harmony and the Wisdom of Age
1 I enjoy three things, and they are beautiful to the Lord and to people: the agreement of relatives, the friendship of neighbors, and a woman and her husband who walk together in agreement. 2 But my soul hates three kinds of people, and I am greatly offended by how they live: a poor man who is arrogant, a rich man who is a liar, and an old fool who is an adulterer.
3 If you gathered nothing in your youth, how could you find anything in your old age? 4 How beautiful is judgment among the gray-haired, and for elders to know good advice! 5 How beautiful is the wisdom of old men, and understanding and advice to honored men! 6 Much experience is the crown of the aged. Their glory is the fear of the Lord.
The Things That Bring Happiness
7 There are nine things I have thought about and judged fortunate in my heart, and I will speak of a tenth with my tongue: a man who has joy with his children, and a man who lives and sees the fall of his enemies. 8 Happy is he who lives 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. 9 Happy is he who has found prudence, and he who speaks in the ears of those who listen. 10 How great is he who has found wisdom! Yet there is no one greater than one who fears the Lord. 11 The fear of the Lord surpasses all things. To whom can someone who holds it be compared?
Hostility and a Troubled Marriage
13 Any wound but a wound of the heart! Any wickedness but the wickedness of a woman! 14 Any disaster but a disaster from those who hate me! Any vengeance but the vengeance of enemies! 15 There is no venom worse than a snake’s venom. There is no anger worse than an enemy’s anger.
16 I would rather live with a lion and a dragon than keep house with a wicked woman. 17 The wickedness of a woman changes her appearance, and darkens her face like that of a bear. 18 Her husband will sit among his neighbors, and when he hears it, he sighs bitterly. 19 All malice is small compared to the malice of a woman. Let a sinner’s fate fall on her. 20 A wife full of words is to a quiet man what walking up a sandy hill is to the feet of the elderly. 21 Don’t be ensnared by a woman’s beauty. Don’t desire a woman for her beauty. 22 There is anger, shamelessness, and great disgrace if a woman supports her husband.
23 A wicked woman is a downcast heart, a sad face, and a wounded heart. A woman who won’t make her husband happy is like hands that hang down, and weak knees. 24 The beginning of sin came from a woman. Because of her, we all die. 25 Don’t give water an outlet, and don’t give a wicked woman freedom of speech. 26 If she doesn’t follow your directions, cut her away from your flesh.
Texts in conversation
Compare Jesus Ben Sira, Sirach 25:6 and Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor 3.3
Deuterocanon · Early Christian
Summary
Passages
Jesus Ben Sira, Sirach 25:6
Deuterocanon · Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticusand for elders to know good advice! 5 How beautiful is the wisdom of old men,
and understanding and advice to honored men! 6 Much experience is the crown of the aged.
Their glory is the fear of the Lord. 7 There are nine things I have thought about and judged fortunate in my heart,
and I will speak of a tenth with my tongue:
a man who has joy with his children,
and a man who lives and sees the fall of his enemies. 8 Happy is he who lives 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.
Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor 3.3
Early Christian · PaedagogusReferences
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