Read & explore together
Guard against jealousy and illicit desire
Sirach 9:1–9 gives a chain of warnings about jealousy and illicit desire. In short commands, it urges careful choices about relationships, where to look, where to go, and with whom to spend time.
Understanding the passage
Listening in context
This passage comes from Sirach, a wisdom book in the Catholic additional books. It is not a story but direct instruction. The speaker repeatedly warns about jealousy, prostitutes, beauty, passion, and the danger of being drawn toward destruction.
Sirach 9:1–9Main takeaway
This passage teaches that jealousy and illicit desire are dangerous, so wisdom turns away from attitudes and situations that can lead a person astray.
Look closely at the words
Open a card to explore the full explanation and its Bible references.
01Jealousy begins close to homeThe first warning speaks about “the wife of your bosom”, meaning one’s own wife. The command is not to be jealous over her.
Explanation
The first warning speaks about “the wife of your bosom”, meaning one’s own wife. The command is not to be jealous over her. It also warns, “don’t teach her an evil lesson against yourself”, showing that jealousy and harmful conduct can turn back against the one who does them.
02Do not step into snaresThe passage next says, “Don’t give your soul to a woman,” then warns against going to a prostitute and associating with a woman who is a singer.
Explanation
The passage next says, “Don’t give your soul to a woman,” then warns against going to a prostitute and associating with a woman who is a singer. The text itself describes danger with the words “trample down your strength”, “snares”, and “tricks”. An application is to avoid settings this passage presents as dangerous.
03Guard your eyes and your pathSirach then connects looking and wandering with danger. Gazing at a virgin may lead to stumbling and penalties.
Explanation
Sirach then connects looking and wandering with danger. Gazing at a virgin may lead to stumbling and penalties. Giving oneself to prostitutes may mean losing an inheritance. Looking around the city streets and wandering deserted places are also warned against, so the instruction includes desire and outward movement.
04Beauty can kindle passionThe final warnings focus on sight and companionship. The listener is told to turn away from a beautiful woman and not gaze at another’s beauty, because many have been led astray and passion is “kindled like a fire”.
Explanation
The final warnings focus on sight and companionship. The listener is told to turn away from a beautiful woman and not gaze at another’s beauty, because many have been led astray and passion is “kindled like a fire”. Dining and drinking with a married woman may become a path toward destruction.
Questions to explore
Pause, look back at the verses and talk together.
01How does the passage link jealousy at home with harm to oneself?
Look at the warning not to be jealous and not to teach “an evil lesson against yourself”, and consider what damage the speaker says jealousy can bring.
02What repeated kinds of choices does Sirach warn against in verses 3 to 7?
Notice the verbs go, associate, gaze, give, look, and wander, and ask what these actions have in common.
03What pictures does the passage use to describe desire becoming dangerous?
Identify the images of snares, tricks, fire, and sliding into destruction, and think about what each image suggests.
Read the Bible passage
World English Bible ClassicScripture quotation · Public domain
Sirach 9:1–9
1Don’t be jealous over the wife of your bosom, and don’t teach her an evil lesson against yourself.
2Don’t give your soul to a woman and let her trample down your strength.
3Don’t go to meet a woman who plays the prostitute, lest perhaps you fall into her snares.
4Don’t associate with a woman who is a singer, lest perhaps you be caught by her tricks.
5Don’t gaze at a virgin, lest perhaps you stumble and incur penalties for her.
6Don’t give your soul to prostitutes, that you not lose your inheritance.
7Don’t look around in the streets of the city. Don’t wander in its deserted places.
8Turn your eye away from a beautiful woman, and don’t gaze at another’s beauty. Many have been led astray by the beauty of a woman; and with this, passion is kindled like a fire.
9Don’t dine at all with a woman who has a husband, or revel with her at wine, lest perhaps your soul turn away to her, and with your spirit you slide into destruction.