31
📚The words of King Lemuel,the oracle 📖 that his mother 📖 taught him.
31:1 Lemuel was never king in Israel, so he was of some other nation or city. He is not mentioned anywhere else in the Bible. His name means belonging to God or devoted to God.⚜
2 📚“What, my son?
And what, the son of my womb?
And what, the son of my vows?
3 📚Do not give your strength to women,
or your ways to that which destroys kings.
4 📚It is not for kings,
O Lemuel,
it is not for kings to drink wine,
or for rulers to imbibe strong drink,
5 📚Or they may drink and forget the law,
and pervert the judgment of some
of the afflicted.
31:4-5 Prov 20:1; Eccl 10:16-17; Isa 5:22. Drunkenness causes men to forget righteousness and brings them under the power of their sinful natures.⚜
6 📚Give strong drink to him
who is about to perish,
and wine to those who have heavy hearts.
7 📚Let him drink and forget his poverty,
and remember his misery no more.
31:6-7 Ps 104:15; Matt 27:34; 1 Tim 5:23. Wine should not be misused but used very wisely, if used at all.⚜
8 📚Open your mouth for the dumb,
in the cause of all who are
facing destruction 📖.
9 📚Open your mouth, judge righteously,
and plead the cause of the poor and needy”.
10 📚Who can find a virtuous 📖 woman?
For her worth is far above rubies.
31:10 In other words, such women, though rare, are well worth searching for diligently. Her good qualities are far more valuable than any dowry that could be offered. They will be great blessings in both practical and spiritual ways to their husbands and children. Such a woman is what she is because she fears the Lord (v 30). Without the fear of the Lord there is no truly noble character, no real spirituality, no wisdom worthy of the name.⚜
11 📚The heart of her husband safely trusts her,
so that he will have no need of plunder.
12 She will do him good and not evil
all the days of her life.
13 📚She looks for wool and flax,
and works willingly with her hands.
14 📚She is like the merchants’ ships;
she brings her food from a distance.
15 📚She also rises while it is yet night,
and gives food to her household,
and a portion to her maidens.
16 📚She considers a field, and buys it;
from the produce of her hands she plants
a vineyard.
17 📚She goes to work with vigor,
and strengthens her arms.
18 📚She sees that her business is good;
her lamp does not go out at night.
19 📚She puts her hands to the spindle,
and her hands hold the distaff.
20 📚She stretches out her hand to
help the poor; yes,
she extends her hands to the needy.
21 📚She is not afraid for her household
when the snow falls,
for all her household are clothed
with scarlet.
22 📚She makes for herself coverings
of tapestry;
her clothing is silk and purple.
23 📚Her husband is known in the gates,
when he sits among the elders of the land.
24 📚She makes fine linen and sells it,
and delivers sashes to the merchant.
25 📚Strength and honour are
her clothing,
and she rejoices in the future.
26 📚She opens her mouth with wisdom,
and in her tongue is the law
of kindness.
27 📚She looks well to the ways of her household,
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
31:13-27 She is hard-working (vs 13,15,17,27),
Shows good business sense (vs 16,18,24),
Has compassion on the poor (v 20),
Plans for the changing seasons (v 21,22,25),
Is an honor to her husband (v 23),
Has strength of character (v 25),
Has the wisdom to instruct her children and to advise others (v 26),
And can well manage the affairs of her household (v 27).
If it is God’s will for you to marry, search for such a one! Do not consider lesser things. If one like this is found, all your efforts will be well rewarded. How sad it is that when looking for a wife so many people (including many Christians) think mainly of how much the (illegal) dowry will be, or what her caste is, or what her job qualifications or degrees, or some other such consideration which means nothing in God’s eyes and should mean nothing in ours.⚜
28 📚Her children rise up and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her.
31:28 Such a wife is blessed by God and a source of blessing to others.⚜
29 📚Many daughters have done virtuously 📖,
but you excel them all.
31:29 Women who have big careers, who accomplish much in society or government or some field of science or art may gain praise and fame, but in God’s eyes such are not the equal of this kind of woman, unless they have her qualities. Let us learn to look at matters as God sees them.⚜
30 📚Charm is deceitful and beauty
is vain,
but the woman who
fears the LORD, she will be praised.
31:30 1 Pet 3:3-5. If only young women would give up vain pursuits and seek the really important things, the noble character described in the preceding verses could become theirs. Proverbs closes as it opens with emphasis on the fear of the LORD (Prov 1:7).⚜
31 📚Give her the product of her hands,
and let her own works praise her in the gates.
31:31 She has earned the reward of respect and praise. They who fear the Lord should be honored by men, and will certainly be honored by God.⚜