Ben Sira 42:8-18

8 Do not be ashamed to correct the stupid or foolish or the aged who are guilty of sexual immorality. Then you will show your sound training, and will be approved by all.
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.
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.

Footnotes 6

  • [a]. Heb: Meaning of Gk uncertain
  • [b]. Heb: Gk[to shame before the great multitude]
  • [c]. Heb: Gk lacks [See . . . house]
  • [d]. Heb: Meaning of Gk uncertain
  • [e]. Syr Compare Heb: most Gk witnesses lack [and all . . . will]
  • [f]. Heb: Gk [he sees the sign(s) of the age]
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.