I had an opportunity read out of a Bible with the Apocrapha today. My Bible at home doesn't have it.
I flipped through Sirach, and found the following passage. This is the RSV version of it.
[9] A daughter keeps her father secretly wakeful,
and worry over her robs him of sleep;
when she is young, lest she do not marry,
or if married, lest she be hated;
[10] while a virgin, lest she be defiled
or become pregnant in her father's house;
or having a husband, lest she prove unfaithful,
or, though married, lest she be barren.
[11] Keep strict watch over a headstrong daughter,
lest she make you a laughingstock to your enemies,
a byword in the city and notorious among the people,
and put you to shame before the great multitude.
[12] Do not look upon any one for beauty,
and do not sit in the midst of 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;
and it is a woman who brings shame and disgrace.
Verse 14 sounds rather harsh. The translation I was reading said the harshness of a man. I thought it was saying it was better to be overprotective as a father than for the daughter to bring disgrace, but it doesn't look that way in this translation.
Anyway, this is what I flipped open to in the book, and as a father of little girls, it looked like an interesting passage, especially for people with teenage daughters.
I flipped through Sirach, and found the following passage. This is the RSV version of it.
[9] A daughter keeps her father secretly wakeful,
and worry over her robs him of sleep;
when she is young, lest she do not marry,
or if married, lest she be hated;
[10] while a virgin, lest she be defiled
or become pregnant in her father's house;
or having a husband, lest she prove unfaithful,
or, though married, lest she be barren.
[11] Keep strict watch over a headstrong daughter,
lest she make you a laughingstock to your enemies,
a byword in the city and notorious among the people,
and put you to shame before the great multitude.
[12] Do not look upon any one for beauty,
and do not sit in the midst of 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;
and it is a woman who brings shame and disgrace.
Verse 14 sounds rather harsh. The translation I was reading said the harshness of a man. I thought it was saying it was better to be overprotective as a father than for the daughter to bring disgrace, but it doesn't look that way in this translation.
Anyway, this is what I flipped open to in the book, and as a father of little girls, it looked like an interesting passage, especially for people with teenage daughters.
