Ben Sira 42:11

11 Keep strict watch over a headstrong daughter, or she may make you a laughingstock to your enemies, a byword in the city and the assembly of the people, and put you to shame in public gatherings. See that there is no lattice in her room, no spot that overlooks the approaches to the house.

Ben Sira 42:11 In-Context

9 A daughter is a secret anxiety to her father, and worry over her robs him of sleep; when she is young, for fear she may not marry, or if married, for fear she may be disliked;
10 while a virgin, for fear she may be seduced and become pregnant in her father's house; or having a husband, for fear she may go astray, or, though married, for fear she may be barren.
11 Keep strict watch over a headstrong daughter, or she may make you a laughingstock to your enemies, a byword in the city and the assembly of the people, and put you to shame in public gatherings. See that there is no lattice in her room, no spot that overlooks the approaches to the house.
12 Do not let her parade her beauty before any man, or spend her time among married women;
13 for from garments comes the moth, and from a woman comes woman's wickedness.

Footnotes 3

  • [a]. Heb: Meaning of Gk uncertain
  • [b]. Heb: Gk[to shame before the great multitude]
  • [c]. Heb: Gk lacks [See . . . house]
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.