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20 Like a sandy hill to aged feet
    is a garrulous wife to a quiet husband.

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'Sirach 25:20' not found for the version: New International Version.

21     of rebuffing your own relatives;
Of defrauding another of his appointed share,
20a     of failing to return a greeting;
21c Of gazing at a man’s wife,
20b     of entertaining thoughts about another woman;(A)

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'Sirach 41:21' not found for the version: New International Version.

25 Do not lust in your heart after her beauty,
    do not let her captivate you with her glance!(A)
26 For the price of a harlot
    may be scarcely a loaf of bread,
But a married woman
    is a trap for your precious life.
27 [a]Can a man take embers into his bosom,
    and his garments not be burned?
28 Or can a man walk on live coals,
    and his feet not be scorched?
29 So with him who sleeps with another’s wife—
    none who touches her shall go unpunished.(B)

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Footnotes

  1. 6:27–29 There is a play on three words of similar sound, ’îsh, “man,” ’ishshâ, “woman,” and ’ēsh, “fire, embers.” The question, “Can a man (’îsh) take embers (’ēsh) into his bosom / and his garments not be burned?”, has a double meaning. “Into his bosom” has an erotic meaning as in the phrase “wife of one’s bosom” (Dt 13:6; 28:54; Sir 9:1). Hence one will destroy one’s garments, which symbolize one’s public position, by taking fire/another’s wife into one’s bosom.

25 Do not lust in your heart after her beauty
    or let her captivate you with her eyes.

26 For a prostitute can be had for a loaf of bread,
    but another man’s wife preys on your very life.(A)
27 Can a man scoop fire into his lap
    without his clothes being burned?
28 Can a man walk on hot coals
    without his feet being scorched?
29 So is he who sleeps(B) with another man’s wife;(C)
    no one who touches her will go unpunished.

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