Proverbs 31

¹The words of Lamuel the king. The vision wherewith his mother instructed him.

²What o my beloved, what o the beloved of my womb, what o beloved of my vows?

³Give not thy substance to women, & thy riches to destroy kings.

⁴Give not to kings, o Lamuel, give not wine to kings: because there is no secret where drunkenness reigneth,

⁵& lest perhaps they drink, & forget judgments, & change the cause of the children of the poor.

⁶Give strong drink to them that be sad, and wine unto them that are of a pensive mind:

⁷let them drink, and forget their poverty, and not remember their sorrow any more.

⁸Open thy mouth to the dumb, & to the causes of all the children that pass:

⁹open thy mouth, decree that which is just, & judge the needy & poor.

¹⁰A valiant woman who shall find? Far, and from the utmost borders is the price of her.

¹¹The heart of her husband trusteth in her, and he shall not need spoils.

¹²She shall render good, and not evil, all the days of her life.

¹³She hath sought wool and flax, and hath wrought by the counsel of her hands.

¹⁴She is become as a merchant's ship, bringing her bread from far.

¹⁵And she hath risen in the night, and given prey to her household, and meats to her handmaids.

¹⁶She hath viewed a field, and bought it, of the fruit of her hands she hath planted a vineyard.

¹⁷She hath girded her loins with strength, and hath strengthened her arm.

¹⁸She hath tasted, and seen that her traffic is good: her lamp shall not be extinguished in the night.

¹⁹She hath put her hand to strong things, and her fingers have taken hold of the spindle.

²⁰She hath opened her hand to the needy, and stretched out her palms to the poor.

²¹She shall not fear for her house in the colds of snow: for all her household are clothed with double.

²²Tapestry clothing she hath made to herself: silk and purple is her garment.

²³Her husband is noble in the gates, when he shall sit with the senators of the land.

²⁴She made sindon, and sold it, and delivered a girdle to the Chananeite.

²⁵Strength and beauty is her garment, and she shall laugh in the later day.

²⁶She hath opened her mouth to wisdom, and the law of clemency is in her tongue.

²⁷She hath considered the paths of her house, and hath not eaten her bread idle.

²⁸Her children arose, and commended her to be most blessed: her husband, and he praised her.

²⁹Many daughters have gathered together riches: thou hast passed them all.

³⁰Grace is deceitful, and beauty is vain: the woman that feareth our Lord shall be praised.

³¹Give ye to her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.