Chapter 26

26. Happy is the husband of a good wife, and the number of his days shall be double, for a virtuous woman rejoices her husband, and he shall fulfill the years of his life in peace; a good wife is a good portion, which shall be given in the portion of them that fear the Lord, whether a man be rich or poor, if he have a good heart toward the Lord, he shall at all times rejoice with a cheerful countenance. Of three things my heart was afraid, and for a fourth I was sore troubled: the slander of a city, the gathering together of an unruly multitude, and a false accusation; all these are worse than death, but a wicked woman is worse than them all, for a jealous woman is a grief of heart and mourning, and a wrathful woman is a continual dropping. A wicked woman is a yoke of oxen that are ill tied, and he that has gotten her is as if he had taken a scorpion, for all the wickedness is but little to the wickedness of a woman, let the portion of a sinner fall upon her. A shameful woman is a sting, and her husband shall sigh, and if she has no children, she shall be despised, and if she have, she shall be a reproach; a wicked woman is a stench, and her house is full of noise, and a woman that is a drunkard is a curse, and her shame shall not be covered. I had rather dwell with a lion and a dragon, than to keep house with a wicked woman, for the wickedness of a woman changes her face, and darkens her countenance like sackcloth, and her husband shall sigh. The beauty of a woman is a great trouble, and if she be a fool, she is a stench, and a woman that is a drunkard is a curse, and her shame shall not be covered. As the climbing up a sandy way is to the feet of the aged, so is a wife full of words to a quiet man, but look not upon her beauty, and neither desire a woman for her beauty, for a woman, if she maintain her husband, is full of honor, but if she maintain him not, she is full of shame, and a wicked woman is a curse, and her shame shall not be covered. A silent and loving woman is a gift of the Lord, and there is nothing so much worth as a mind well instructed, for a shamefast and faithful woman is a double grace, and her husband shall not be put to shame; an honest woman is a fair garden, and a chaste woman is as a light in the dark. A comely and well-favoured woman is as a light in the dark, and a fair garden is as a vineyard of figs. Three things that I was afraid of are the anger of a city, the gathering together of an unruly multitude, and a false accusation; all these are worse than death. A merchant shall hardly keep himself from wrong, and a huckster shall not be freed from sin; a rich man shall be judged, and a poor man shall be scorned.