The Words of King Lemuel’s Mother

31 The words of King Lemuel, the utterance which his mother taught him:

What, my son?
And what, son of my womb?
And what, (A)son of my vows?
(B)Do not give your strength to women,
Nor your ways (C)to that which destroys kings.

(D)It is not for kings, O Lemuel,
It is not for kings to drink wine,
Nor for princes intoxicating drink;
(E)Lest they drink and forget the law,
And pervert the justice of all [a]the afflicted.
(F)Give strong drink to him who is perishing,
And wine to those who are bitter of heart.
Let him drink and forget his poverty,
And remember his misery no more.

(G)Open your mouth for the speechless,
In the cause of all who are [b]appointed to die.
Open your mouth, (H)judge righteously,
And (I)plead the cause of the poor and needy.

The Virtuous Wife

10 (J)Who[c] can find a [d]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 (K)She also rises while it is yet night,
And (L)provides food for her household,
And a portion for her maidservants.
16 She considers a field and buys it;
From [e]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 (M)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 (N)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.

Notas al pie

  1. Proverbs 31:5 Lit. sons of affliction
  2. Proverbs 31:8 Lit. sons of passing away
  3. Proverbs 31:10 Vv. 10–31 are an alphabetic acrostic in Hebrew; cf. Ps. 119
  4. Proverbs 31:10 Lit. a wife of valor, in the sense of all forms of excellence
  5. Proverbs 31:16 Lit. the fruit of her hands

The Excellence of Wisdom

Does not (A)wisdom cry out,
And understanding lift up her voice?
She takes her stand on the top of the [a]high hill,
Beside the way, where the paths meet.
She cries out by the gates, at the entry of the city,
At the entrance of the doors:
“To you, O men, I call,
And my voice is to the sons of men.
O you [b]simple ones, understand prudence,
And you fools, be of an understanding heart.
Listen, for I will speak of (B)excellent things,
And from the opening of my lips will come right things;
For my mouth will speak truth;
Wickedness is an abomination to my lips.
All the words of my mouth are with righteousness;
Nothing crooked or perverse is in them.
They are all plain to him who understands,
And right to those who find knowledge.
10 Receive my instruction, and not silver,
And knowledge rather than choice gold;
11 (C)For wisdom is better than rubies,
And all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her.

12 “I, wisdom, dwell with prudence,
And find out knowledge and discretion.
13 (D)The fear of the Lord is to hate evil;
(E)Pride and arrogance and the evil way
And (F)the perverse mouth I hate.
14 Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom;
I am understanding, (G)I have strength.
15 (H)By me kings reign,
And rulers decree justice.
16 By me princes rule, and nobles,
All the judges of [c]the earth.
17 (I)I love those who love me,
And (J)those who seek me diligently will find me.
18 (K)Riches and honor are with me,
Enduring riches and righteousness.
19 My fruit is better than gold, yes, than fine gold,
And my revenue than choice silver.
20 I [d]traverse the way of righteousness,
In the midst of the paths of justice,
21 That I may cause those who love me to inherit wealth,
That I may fill their treasuries.

22 “The(L) Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way,
Before His works of old.
23 (M)I have been established from everlasting,
From the beginning, before there was ever an earth.
24 When there were no depths I was brought forth,
When there were no fountains abounding with water.
25 (N)Before the mountains were settled,
Before the hills, I was brought forth;
26 While as yet He had not made the earth or the [e]fields,
Or the [f]primal dust of the world.
27 When He prepared the heavens, I was there,
When He drew a circle on the face of the deep,
28 When He established the clouds above,
When He strengthened the fountains of the deep,
29 (O)When He assigned to the sea its limit,
So that the waters would not transgress His command,
When (P)He marked out the foundations of the earth,
30 (Q)Then I was beside Him as [g]a master craftsman;
(R)And I was daily His delight,
Rejoicing always before Him,
31 Rejoicing in His inhabited world,
And (S)my delight was with the sons of men.

32 “Now therefore, listen to me, my children,
For (T)blessed are those who keep my ways.
33 Hear instruction and be wise,
And do not disdain it.
34 (U)Blessed is the man who listens to me,
Watching daily at my gates,
Waiting at the posts of my doors.
35 For whoever finds me finds life,
And (V)obtains favor from the Lord;
36 But he who sins against me (W)wrongs his own soul;
All those who hate me love death.”

The Way of Wisdom

Wisdom has (X)built her house,
She has hewn out her seven pillars;
(Y)She has slaughtered her meat,
(Z)She has mixed her wine,
She has also [h]furnished her table.
She has sent out her maidens,
She cries out from the highest places of the city,
“Whoever(AA) is simple, let him turn in here!”
As for him who lacks understanding, she says to him,
“Come,(AB) eat of my bread
And drink of the wine I have mixed.
Forsake foolishness and live,
And go in the way of understanding.

“He who corrects a scoffer gets shame for himself,
And he who rebukes a wicked man only harms himself.
(AC)Do not correct a scoffer, lest he hate you;
(AD)Rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.
Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser;
Teach a just man, (AE)and he will increase in learning.

10 “The(AF) fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
11 (AG)For by me your days will be multiplied,
And years of life will be added to you.
12 (AH)If you are wise, you are wise for yourself,
And if you scoff, you will bear it alone.”

The Way of Folly

13 (AI)A foolish woman is [i]clamorous;
She is simple, and knows nothing.
14 For she sits at the door of her house,
On a seat (AJ)by the highest places of the city,
15 To call to those who pass by,
Who go straight on their way:
16 “Whoever(AK) is [j]simple, let him turn in here”;
And as for him who lacks understanding, she says to him,
17 “Stolen(AL) water is sweet,
And bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”
18 But he does not know that (AM)the dead are there,
That her guests are in the depths of [k]hell.

Notas al pie

  1. Proverbs 8:2 Lit. heights
  2. Proverbs 8:5 naive
  3. Proverbs 8:16 MT, Syr., Tg., Vg. righteousness; LXX, Bg., some mss. and editions earth
  4. Proverbs 8:20 walk about on
  5. Proverbs 8:26 outer places
  6. Proverbs 8:26 Lit. beginning of the dust
  7. Proverbs 8:30 A Jewish tradition one brought up
  8. Proverbs 9:2 arranged
  9. Proverbs 9:13 boisterous
  10. Proverbs 9:16 naive
  11. Proverbs 9:18 Or Sheol

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