Ben Sira 26:18-28

18 Like golden pillars on silver bases, so are shapely legs and steadfast feet.
19 [My child, keep sound the bloom of your youth,] [and do not give your strength to strangers.]
20 [Seek a fertile field within the whole plain,] [and sow it with your own seed, trusting in your fine stock.]
21 [So your offspring will prosper,] [and, having confidence in their good descent, will grow great.]
22 [A prostitute is regarded as spittle,] [and a married woman as a tower of death to her lovers.]
23 [A godless wife is given as a portion to a lawless man,] [but a pious wife is given to the man who fears the Lord.]
24 [A shameless woman constantly acts disgracefully,] [but a modest daughter will even be embarrassed before her husband.]
25 [A headstrong wife is regarded as a dog,] [but one who has a sense of shame will fear the Lord.]
26 [A wife honoring her husband will seem wise to all,] [but if she dishonors him in her pride she will be known to all as ungodly.] [Happy] [is the husband of a good wife; [for the number of his years will be doubled.]
27 [A loud-voiced and garrulous wife is like a trumpet sounding the charge,] [and every person like this lives in the anarchy of war.]
28 At two things my heart is grieved, and because of a third anger comes over me: a warrior in want through poverty, intelligent men who are treated contemptuously, and a man who turns back from righteousness to sin -- the Lord will prepare him for the sword!
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.