22 (A)He who finds a wife finds a good thing,
And obtains favor from the Lord.

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14 (A)Houses and riches are an inheritance from fathers,
But (B)a prudent wife is from the Lord.

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The Virtuous Wife

10 (A)Who[a] can find a [b]virtuous wife?
For her worth is far above rubies.
11 The heart of her husband safely trusts her;
So he will have no lack of gain.
12 She does him good and not evil
All the days of her life.
13 She seeks wool and flax,
And willingly works with her hands.
14 She is like the merchant ships,
She brings her food from afar.
15 (B)She also rises while it is yet night,
And (C)provides food for her household,
And a portion for her maidservants.
16 She considers a field and buys it;
From [c]her profits she plants a vineyard.
17 She girds herself with strength,
And strengthens her arms.
18 She perceives that her merchandise is good,
And her lamp does not go out by night.
19 She stretches out her hands to the distaff,
And her hand holds the spindle.
20 (D)She extends her hand to the poor,
Yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy.
21 She is not afraid of snow for her household,
For all her household is clothed with scarlet.
22 She makes tapestry for herself;
Her clothing is fine linen and purple.
23 (E)Her husband is known in the gates,
When he sits among the elders of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them,
And supplies sashes for the merchants.
25 Strength and honor are her clothing;
She shall rejoice in time to come.
26 She opens her mouth with wisdom,
And on her tongue is the law of kindness.
27 She watches over the ways of her household,
And does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children rise up and call her blessed;
Her husband also, and he praises her:
29 “Many daughters have done well,
But you excel them all.”
30 Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,
But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.
31 Give her of the fruit of her hands,
And let her own works praise her in the gates.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 31:10 Vv. 10–31 are an alphabetic acrostic in Hebrew; cf. Ps. 119
  2. Proverbs 31:10 Lit. a wife of valor, in the sense of all forms of excellence
  3. Proverbs 31:16 Lit. the fruit of her hands

(A)An[a] excellent wife is the crown of her husband,
But she who causes shame is (B)like rottenness in his bones.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 12:4 Lit. A wife of valor

[a]Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life which He has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity; (A)for that is your portion in life, and in the labor which you perform under the sun.

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 9:9 Lit. See life

Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband.

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18 And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; (A)I will make him a helper comparable to him.”

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15 Drink water from your own cistern,
And running water from your own well.
16 Should your fountains be dispersed abroad,
[a]Streams of water in the streets?
17 Let them be only your own,
And not for strangers with you.
18 Let your fountain be blessed,
And rejoice with (A)the wife of your youth.
19 (B)As a loving deer and a graceful doe,
Let her breasts satisfy you at all times;
And always be [b]enraptured with her love.
20 For why should you, my son, be enraptured by (C)an immoral woman,
And be embraced in the arms of a seductress?

21 (D)For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord,
And He [c]ponders all his paths.
22 (E)His own iniquities entrap the wicked man,
And he is caught in the cords of his sin.
23 (F)He shall die for lack of instruction,
And in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 5:16 Channels
  2. Proverbs 5:19 Lit. intoxicated
  3. Proverbs 5:21 observes, lit. weighs

12 Jacob (A)fled to the country of Syria;
(B)Israel served for a spouse,
And for a wife he tended sheep.

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35 For whoever finds me finds life,
And (A)obtains favor from the Lord;

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(A)And so find favor and [a]high esteem
In the sight of God and man.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 3:4 Lit. good understanding

20 So Jacob (A)served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed only a few days to him because of the love he had for her.

21 Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may (B)go in to her.”

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67 Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent; and he (A)took Rebekah and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac (B)was comforted after his mother’s death.

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28 Then Jacob did so and fulfilled her week. So he gave him his daughter Rachel as wife also.

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