Ben Sira 42:12-22

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.
14 Better is the wickedness of a man than a woman who does good; it is woman who brings shame and disgrace.
15 I will now call to mind the works of the Lord, and will declare what I have seen. By the word of the Lord his works are made; and all his creatures do his will.
16 The sun looks down on everything with its light, and the work of the Lord is full of his glory.
17 The Lord has not empowered even his holy ones to recount all his marvelous works, which the Lord the Almighty has established so that the universe may stand firm in his glory.
18 He searches out the abyss and the human heart; he understands their innermost secrets. For the Most High knows all that may be known; he sees from of old the things that are to come.
19 He discloses what has been and what is to be, and he reveals the traces of hidden things.
20 No thought escapes him, and nothing is hidden from him.
21 He has set in order the splendors of his wisdom; he is from all eternity one and the same. Nothing can be added or taken away, and he needs no one to be his counselor.
22 How desirable are all his works, and how sparkling they are to see!

Footnotes 4

  • [a]. Heb: Meaning of Gk uncertain
  • [b]. Syr Compare Heb: most Gk witnesses lack [and all . . . will]
  • [c]. Heb: Gk [he sees the sign(s) of the age]
  • [d]. Meaning of Gk uncertain
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.