Man with women
1 ① Do not be jealous of your own wife; do not give her reason to disgrace you.
2Do not put yourself into the power of any woman to the point where she can dominate you.
3Do not go near a woman of ill-repute for fear of falling into her nets.
4Do not dally with a singing girl for fear of being caught in her snare.
5Do not fix your gaze on a young girl for fear of being involved in her condemnation.
6Do not deliver yourself into the power of prostitutes lest you lose your inheritance.
7Do not glance about you in the streets of the town; do not loiter in lonely places.
8Turn your eyes away from a good-looking woman and do not stare at a beautiful foreigner. For the beauty of a woman has caused many to fall; in her presence love blazes up like a fire.
9Never sit near a married woman or drink wine with her, for fear that your feelings towards her be roused and that in your passion you slide towards your downfall.
10Do not abandon an old friend, for a new one has not the same value.
New wine, new friend; let them mature, then you will enjoy them with pleasure.
11Do not envy the success of the sinner, you do not know what his end will be.
12Do not take pleasure in what pleases the godless, remember that they will be punished before they die.
13Keep well away from the man who has power to kill and you will not experience the fear of death. But if you go with him avoid all offense for fear that he will deprive you of life: realize that you are passing through deathtraps and that you are walking on top of the wall.
14As far as you can, be sociable and take counsel with learned men. 15Love to speak with intelligent men and let all your discourses be about the law of the Most High.
16Let just men be your companions at table; take pride in your fear of the Lord.
17An artisan is judged by his work and a leader of the community, by the wisdom of his words.
18A talkative man is dreaded in his town and the gossip makes himself disliked.
- Sir 9,1 Ben Sira lives in a society which holds women in contempt. It is a society which had not yet discovered the rich quality of married love, so there were great temptations for young and adult men who would easily be satisfied with occasional love. Thus Ben Sira has many warnings against women's seduction, but always as if they were in the first place culpable. See 23:12 and 42:12.
