The Woman Who Fears the Lord

10 [a] (A)An excellent wife who can find?
    She is far more precious than (B)jewels.
11 The heart of her husband trusts in her,
    and he will have no lack of gain.
12 She does him good, and not harm,
    all the days of her life.
13 She (C)seeks wool and flax,
    and works with willing hands.
14 She is like the ships of the merchant;
    she brings her food from afar.
15 She (D)rises while it is yet night
    and (E)provides food for her household
    and portions for her maidens.
16 She considers a field and buys it;
    with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.
17 She (F)dresses herself[b] with strength
    and makes her arms strong.
18 She perceives that her merchandise is profitable.
    Her lamp does not go out at night.
19 She puts her hands to the distaff,
    and her hands hold the spindle.
20 She (G)opens her hand to (H)the poor
    and reaches out her hands to (I)the needy.
21 She is not afraid of snow for her household,
    for all her household are clothed in (J)scarlet.[c]
22 She makes (K)bed coverings for herself;
    her clothing is (L)fine linen and (M)purple.
23 Her husband is known in (N)the gates
    when he sits among the elders of the land.
24 She makes (O)linen garments and sells them;
    she delivers sashes to the merchant.
25 (P)Strength and dignity are her clothing,
    and she laughs at the time to come.
26 She opens her mouth with wisdom,
    and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
27 She looks well to 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 (Q)women have done (R)excellently,
    but you surpass them all.”
30 (S)Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
    but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
31 Give her of the fruit of her hands,
    and let her works praise her in the gates.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 31:10 Verses 10–31 are an acrostic poem, each verse beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet
  2. Proverbs 31:17 Hebrew She girds her loins
  3. Proverbs 31:21 Or in double thickness

21 (A)submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Wives and Husbands

22 (B)Wives, (C)submit to your own husbands, (D)as to the Lord. 23 For (E)the husband is the head of the wife even as (F)Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is (G)himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit (H)in everything to their husbands.

25 (I)Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and (J)gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by (K)the washing of water (L)with the word, 27 so (M)that he might present the church to himself in splendor, (N)without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.[a] 28 In the same way (O)husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because (P)we are members of his body. 31 (Q)“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and (R)the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, (S)let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she (T)respects her husband.

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Footnotes

  1. Ephesians 5:27 Or holy and blameless

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