---
title: "Sirach 26 – Catholic Bible (CPDV) & Latin Vulgate · Bless"
url: https://blessbible.app/bible/sirach/26/
description: "Of good and bad women. Sirach 26 in the Catholic Public Domain Version, with the Latin Vulgate."
---

# Sirach 26

Sirach 26 is chapter 26 of 51 in the Book of Sirach. Here are all 28 verses in the Catholic Public Domain Version, with the Latin of the Clementine Vulgate beside them.

> Of good and bad women.
>
> — Bp. Richard Challoner, chapter summary

## Sirach 26 (Catholic Public Domain Version)

1. Blessed is the husband of a good wife. For the number of his years is doubled.
2. A good wife delights her husband, and she will fill up the years of his life with peace.
3. A good wife is a good portion. She will be given the portion of those who fear God, like a man who has done good deeds.
4. But, rich or poor, with a good heart, his countenance will be cheerful at all times.
5. Of three things, my heart has been afraid, and at a fourth, my face has shown dread:
6. an accusation made by a city, and the gathering of a mob,
7. and a deceitful false accusation. All these are more grievous than death.
8. A jealous wife is a grief and a mourning to the heart.
9. In a jealous wife, there is a scourge of the tongue, which communicates with everyone.
10. Like a yoke of oxen being provoked, so also is a wicked wife. He who has hold of her is like one who has taken hold of a scorpion.
11. An inebriated wife is a great wrath. And her disgrace and indecency will not be covered.
12. The fornication of a wife will become known by the haughtiness of her eyes and by her eyelids.
13. So that her daughter will not also turn away, keep a strict watch; otherwise, having found an opportunity, she may enjoy herself.
14. Be wary of the irreverence of her eyes, and you should not wonder if she might disregard you.
15. Like a thirsty traveler, she will open her mouth to the fountain, and she will drink from every water nearby, and she will sit down beside every fencepost, and she will open her quiver to every arrow, until she becomes weary.
16. The grace of an attentive wife will delight her husband, and will fatten his bones.
17. Her discipline is a gift from God.
18. Such is an understanding and quiet wife. For there is no substitution for a well-instructed soul.
19. A holy and contrite wife is grace upon grace.
20. And no amount of money is equal to the value of a soul with self-restraint.
21. Like the sun rising over the world in the high places of God, so the beauty of a good wife is the adornment of her house.
22. Like a lamp shining atop a holy lampstand, so is the beauty of a face in the mature stage of life.
23. Like golden pillars upon bases of silver, so are the firm feet of a mature wife upon the soles of her feet.
24. Like everlasting foundations upon a solid rock, so are the commandments of God in the heart of a holy wife.
25. By two things, my heart is greatly saddened, and at a third, anger overwhelms me:
26. a man of war failing because of dire need, and an understanding man treated with contempt,
27. and anyone who crosses over from justice to sin. God has prepared such a one for the spear.
28. Two kinds of things have seemed difficult and dangerous to me: a merchant will not be easily freed from his negligence, and a shopkeeper will not be justified by the sins of his lips.

## Sirach 26 in Latin (Clementine Vulgate, 1592)

1. Mulieris bonæ beatus vir: numerus enim annorum illius duplex.
2. Mulier fortis oblectat virum suum, et annos vitæ illius in pace implebit.
3. Pars bona mulier bona, in parte timentium Deum dabitur viro pro factis bonis:
4. divitis autem et pauperis cor bonum, in omni tempore vultus illorum hilaris.
5. A tribus timuit cor meum, et in quarto facies mea metuit:
6. delaturam civitatis, et collectionem populi:
7. calumniam mendacem super mortem omnia gravia:
8. dolor cordis et luctus, mulier zelotypa.
9. In muliere zelotypa flagellum linguæ, omnibus communicans.
10. Sicut boum jugum quod movetur, ita et mulier nequam: qui tenet illam quasi qui apprehendit scorpionem.
11. Mulier ebriosa ira magna, et contumelia: et turpitudo illius non tegetur.
12. Fornicatio mulieris in extollentia oculorum, et in palpebris illius agnoscetur.
13. In filia non avertente se, firma custodiam, ne inventa occasione utatur se.
14. Ab omni irreverentia oculorum ejus cave, et ne mireris si te neglexerit.
15. Sicut viator sitiens ad fontem os aperiet, et ab omni aqua proxima bibet, et contra omnem palum sedebit, et contra omnem sagittam aperiet pharetram donec deficiat.
16. Gratia mulieris sedulæ delectabit virum suum, et ossa illius impinguabit.
17. Disciplina illius datum Dei est.
18. Mulier sensata et tacita, non est immutatio eruditæ animæ.
19. Gratia super gratiam mulier sancta et pudorata.
20. Omnis autem ponderatio non est digna continentis animæ.
21. Sicut sol oriens mundo in altissimis Dei, sic mulieris bonæ species in ornamentum domus ejus.
22. Lucerna splendens super candelabrum sanctum, et species faciei super ætatem stabilem.
23. Columnæ aureæ super bases argenteas, et pedes firmi super plantas stabilis mulieris.
24. Fundamenta æterna supra petram solidam, et mandata Dei in corde mulieris sanctæ.
25. In duobus contristatum est cor meum, et in tertio iracundia mihi advenit:
26. vir bellator deficiens per inopiam; et vir sensatus contemptus;
27. et qui transgreditur a justitia ad peccatum: Deus paravit eum ad rhomphæam.
28. Duæ species difficiles et periculosæ mihi apparuerunt: difficile exuitur negotians a negligentia, et non justificabitur caupo a peccatis labiorum.

## Bishop Challoner's notes

Bp. Richard Challoner, notes on the Douay-Rheims (1750); they comment on its older wording.
- Verse 28: That is, from the neglect of the service of God: because the eager pursuit of the mammon of this world, is apt to make men of that calling forget the great duties of loving God above all things, and their neighbours as themselves.-- Ibid.
- Verse 28: Or, a retailer of wine. Men of that profession are both greatly exposed to danger of sin themselves, and are too often accessary to the sins of others.

Source: Catholic Public Domain Version (Ronald L. Conte Jr., 2009), public domain; Latin: Clementine Vulgate (1592).