Sirach Chapter 26

Of good and bad women.

English (Douay-Rheims)

1 Happy is the husband of a good wife: for the number of his years is double.
2 A virtuous woman rejoiceth her husband, and shall fulfil the years of his life in peace.
3 A good wife is a good portion, she shall be given in the portion of them that fear God, to a man for his good deeds.
4 Rich or poor, if his heart is good, his countenance shall be cheerful at all times.
5 Of three things my heart hath been afraid, and at the fourth my face hath trembled:
6 The accusation of a city, and the gathering together of the people:
7 And a false calumny, all are more grievous than death.
8 A jealous woman is the grief and mourning of the heart.
9 With a jealous woman is a scourge of the tongue which communicateth with all.
10 As a yoke of oxen that is moved to and fro, so also is a wicked woman: he that hath hold of her, is as he that taketh hold of a scorpion.
11 A drunken woman is a great wrath: and her reproach and shame shall not be hid.
12 The fornication of a woman shall be known by the haughtiness of her eyes and by her eyelids.
13 On a daughter that turneth not away herself, set a strict watch: lest finding an opportunity she abuse herself.
14 Take heed of the impudence of her eyes, and wonder not if she slight thee.
15 She will open her mouth as a thirsty traveller to the fountain, and will drink of every water near her, and will sit down by every hedge, and open her quiver against every arrow, until she fail.
16 The grace of a diligent woman shall delight her husband, and shall fat his bones.
17 Her discipline is the gift of God.
18 Such is a wise and silent woman, and there is nothing so much worth as a well instructed soul.
19 A holy and shamefaced woman is grace upon grace.
20 And no price is worthy of a continent soul.
21 As the sun when it riseth to the world in the high places of God, so is the beauty of a good wife for the ornament of her house.
22 As the lamp shining upon the holy candlestick, so is the beauty of the face in a ripe age,
23 As golden pillars upon bases of silver, so are the firm feet upon the soles of a steady woman.
24 As everlasting foundations upon a solid rock, so the commandments of God in the heart of a holy woman.

25 At two things my heart is grieved, and the third bringeth anger upon me.
26 A man of war fainting through poverty, and a man of sense despised:
27 And he that passeth over from justice to sin, God hath prepared such an one for the sword.

28 Two sorts of callings have appeared to me hard and dangerous: a merchant is hardly free from negligence: and a huckster shall not be justified from the sins of the lips. From negligence... That is, from the neglect of the service of God: because the eager pursuit of the mammon of this world, is apt to make men of that calling forget the great duties of loving God above all things, and their neighbours as themselves. -- Ibid. A huckster... Or, a retailer of wine. Men of that profession are both greatly exposed to danger of sin themselves, and are too often accessory to the sins of others.

Old Testament first published 1609 by the English College at Douay
New Testament first published 1582 by the English College at Rheims
Revised and Annotated 1749 by Bishop Richard Challoner
Imprimatur. +James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore, September 1, 1899

Latin (Clementine Vulgate)

1 Mulieris bonæ beatus vir:
numerus enim annorum illius duplex.
2 Mulier fortis oblectat virum suum,
et annos vitæ illius in pace implebit.
3 Pars bona mulier bona,
in parte timentium Deum dabitur viro pro factis bonis:
4 divitis autem et pauperis cor bonum,
in omni tempore vultus illorum hilaris.
5 A tribus timuit cor meum,
et in quarto facies mea metuit:
6 delaturam civitatis, et collectionem populi:
7 calumniam mendacem super mortem omnia gravia:
8 dolor cordis et luctus, mulier zelotypa.
9 In muliere zelotypa flagellum linguæ,
omnibus communicans.
10 Sicut boum jugum quod movetur, ita et mulier nequam:
qui tenet illam quasi qui apprehendit scorpionem.
11 Mulier ebriosa ira magna, et contumelia:
et turpitudo illius non tegetur.
12 Fornicatio mulieris in extollentia oculorum,
et in palpebris illius agnoscetur.
13 In filia non avertente se, firma custodiam,
ne inventa occasione utatur se.
14 Ab omni irreverentia oculorum ejus cave,
et ne mireris si te neglexerit.
15 Sicut viator sitiens ad fontem os aperiet,
et ab omni aqua proxima bibet,
et contra omnem palum sedebit,
et contra omnem sagittam aperiet pharetram donec deficiat.
16 Gratia mulieris sedulæ delectabit virum suum,
et ossa illius impinguabit.
17 Disciplina illius datum Dei est.
18 Mulier sensata et tacita,
non est immutatio eruditæ animæ.
19 Gratia super gratiam
mulier sancta et pudorata.
20 Omnis autem ponderatio non est digna
continentis animæ.
21 Sicut sol oriens mundo in altissimis Dei,
sic mulieris bonæ species in ornamentum domus ejus.
22 Lucerna splendens super candelabrum sanctum,
et species faciei super ætatem stabilem.
23 Columnæ aureæ super bases argenteas,
et pedes firmi super plantas stabilis mulieris.
24 Fundamenta æterna supra petram solidam,
et mandata Dei in corde mulieris sanctæ.

25 In duobus contristatum est cor meum,
et in tertio iracundia mihi advenit:
26 vir bellator deficiens per inopiam;
et vir sensatus contemptus;
27 et qui transgreditur a justitia ad peccatum:
Deus paravit eum ad rhomphæam.

28 Duæ species difficiles et periculosæ mihi apparuerunt:
difficile exuitur negotians a negligentia,
et non justificabitur caupo a peccatis labiorum.

Transcribed as part of the Clementine Vulgate Project
Please notify the original transcriber (little.mouth@soon.com) of any errors in this Latin edition