[Concerning a Contentious and Brawling Woman.]
X. But as to a spirit of contention, be sure to curb it as to all men, but principally as to thine husband; lest, if he be an unbeliever or an heathen, he may have an occasion of scandal or of blaspheming God, and thou be partaker of a woe from God. For, says He, “Woe to him by whom My name is blasphemed among the Gentiles;” 43 Isa. lii. 5 Isa. lii. 5 and lest, if thy husband be a Christian, he be forced, from his knowledge of the Scriptures, to say that which is written in the book of Wisdom: “It is better to dwell in the wilderness, than with a contentious and an angry woman.” 44 Prov. xxi. 19 Prov. xxi. 19 You wives, therefore, demonstrate your piety by your modesty and meekness to all without the Church, whether they be women or men, in order to their conversion and improvement in the faith. And since we have warned you, and instructed you briefly, whom we do esteem our sisters, daughters, and members, as being wise yourselves, persevere all your lives in an unblameable course of life. Seek to know such kinds of learning whereby you may arrive at the kingdom of our Lord, and please Him, and so rest for ever and ever. Amen.
[10] Τὸ δὲ μάχιμόν σου πρὸς πάντας, μάλιστα δὲ πρὸς τὸν ἄνδρα σου, περίκοψον πιστὴ ὑπάρχουσα, ἵνα σου ὁ ἀνήρ, ἐὰν ᾖ πιστὸς ἢ ἐθνικός, μὴ διὰ σὲ σκανδαλισθεὶς βλασφημήσῃ Θεὸν καὶ σὺ τοῦ οὐαὶ κληρονόμος εὑρεθήσῃ παρὰ Θεῷ. «Οὐαὶ γάρ, φησίν, δι' οὗ τὸ ὄνομά μου βλασφημεῖται ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν.» Εἰ δὲ πιστὸς ὑπάρχει σου ὁ ἀνήρ, ἀναγκασθήσεται ὡς εἰδὼς τὰς γραφὰς εἰπεῖν τὸ ῥῆμα τὸ γεγραμμένον ἐν τῇ Σοφίᾳ: «Κρεῖσσον οἰκεῖν ἐν ἐρήμῳ, ἢ μετὰ γυναικὸς γλωσσώδους καὶ μαχίμης.» Αἱ οὖν γυναῖκες διὰ τῆς αἰδοῦς καὶ πραότητος τὴν θεοσέβειαν ἐνδείκνυσθε εἰς ἐπιστροφὴν καὶ προτροπὴν πίστεως καὶ τοῖς ἐκτὸς πᾶσιν εἴτε γυναιξὶν εἴτε ἀνδράσιν. Καὶ εἰ δι' ὀλίγων νουθετήσαντες ἐπαιδεύσαμεν ὑμᾶς, ἀδελφαὶ καὶ θυγατέρες καὶ μέλη ἡμῶν, ὡς σοφαὶ καὶ αὐταὶ ἀλοιδόρητοι τοῦ βίου, ἐκζητεῖτε μαθήματα γινώσκειν, δι' ὧν δυνήσεσθε τῇ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν ἐγγίσαι βασιλείᾳ εὐαρέστως καὶ ἀναπαύσασθαι.