Ecclesiasticus 26

¹Happy is the husband of a good wife;[#See Prov. 31.10-31.]

And the number of his days shall be twofold.

²A brave woman rejoiceth her husband;[#ch. 28.15.]

And he shall fulfil his years in peace.

³A good wife is a good portion:[#Cp. Prov. 18.22 & 19.14.]

She shall be given in the portion of such as fear the Lord.

⁴Whether a man be rich or poor,

A good heart maketh at all times a cheerful countenance.

⁵Of three things my heart was afraid;[#ch. 25.1,2.]

And concerning the fourth kind I made supplication:

The slander of a city, and the assembly of a multitude, and a false accusation:

All these are more grievous than death.

⁶A grief of heart and sorrow is a woman that is jealous of another woman,[#Cp. ch. 37.11.]

And the scourge of a tongue communicating to all.

⁷A wicked woman is as a yoke of oxen shaken to and fro:

He that taketh hold of her is as one that graspeth a scorpion.

⁸A drunken woman causeth great wrath;

And she will not cover her own shame.

⁹The whoredom of a woman is in the lifting up of her eyes;

And it shall be known by her eyelids.

¹⁰Keep strict watch on a headstrong daughter,[#ch. 42.11.]

Lest she find liberty for herself, and use it.

¹¹Look well after an impudent eye;

And marvel not if it trespass against thee.

¹²She will open her mouth, as a thirsty traveller,

And drink of every water that is near:

At every post will she sit down,

And open her quiver against any arrow.

¹³The grace of a wife will delight her husband;[#Cp. Prov. 31.28,29.]

And her knowledge will fatten his bones.

¹⁴A silent woman is a gift of the Lord;

And there is nothing so much worth as a well-instructed soul.

¹⁵A shamefast woman is grace upon grace;

And there is no price worthy of a continent soul.

¹⁶As the sun when it ariseth in the highest places of the Lord,

So is the beauty of a good wife in the ordering of a man's house.

¹⁷As the lamp that shineth upon the holy candlestick,[#Lev. 24.2,4.]

So is the beauty of the face in ripe age.

¹⁸As the golden pillars are upon a base of silver,

So are beautiful feet with the breasts of one that is stedfast.

²⁸For two things my heart is grieved;[#Cp. ch. 23.16.]

And for the third anger cometh upon me:

A man of war that suffereth for poverty;

And men of understanding that are counted as refuse:

One that turneth back from righteousness to sin;

The Lord shall prepare him for the sword.

²⁹A MERCHANT shall hardly keep himself from wrong doing;[#Cp. ch. 27.2 & 37.11. Prov. 20.14.]

And a huckster shall not be acquitted of sin.