Proverbs 31:9–26

¹⁷Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.

¹¹Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them.

¹²For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right.

¹⁵¶ Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.

¹⁶And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him.

¹⁵I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame.

¹⁶I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out.

³Thus saith the Lord; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place.

²⁷Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity.

²³Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.

²⁸They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.

¹²It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness: for the throne is established by righteousness.

¹⁸¶ Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge the people with just judgment.

¹⁹Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.

²⁰That which is altogether just shalt thou follow, that thou mayest live, and inherit the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

⁵¶ Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.

¹²Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him.

¹GIVE the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king’s son.

²He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment.

¹⁵And David reigned over all Israel; and David executed judgment and justice unto all his people.

⁴But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.

¹⁵Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar? did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him?

¹⁶He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? saith the Lord.

⁸A king that sitteth in the throne of judgment scattereth away all evil with his eyes.

¹¹And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.

⁹Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother:

⁹Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

¹BEHOLD, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment.

²And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.

²⁴Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.

¹DO ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men?

²Yea, in heart ye work wickedness; ye weigh the violence of your hands in the earth.

⁹¶ Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

¹⁴House and riches are the inheritance of fathers: and a prudent wife is from the Lord.

⁴A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones.

²²Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the Lord.

²⁵Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

²⁶That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

²⁷That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

²⁸So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.

²⁹For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:

³⁰For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

³¹For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.

³²This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

³³Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.

¹⁵She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.

⁸There are threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, and virgins without number.

⁹My dove, my undefiled is but one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that bare her. The daughters saw her, and blessed her; yea, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her.

¹¹And now, my daughter, fear not; I will do to thee all that thou requirest: for all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman.

²⁸Which yet my soul seeketh, but I find not: one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found.

¹⁵There is gold, and a multitude of rubies: but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.

¹¹For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.

¹⁸No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for the price of wisdom is above rubies.

¹LIKEWISE, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives;

²While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear.

³Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;

⁴But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.

⁵For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands:

⁶Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.

⁷Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.

²²And she called unto her husband, and said, Send me, I pray thee, one of the young men, and one of the asses, that I may run to the man of God, and come again.

²³And he said, Wherefore wilt thou go to him to day? it is neither new moon, nor sabbath. And she said, It shall be well.

⁹And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually.

¹⁰Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither.

¹⁸¶ Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and an hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on asses.

¹⁹And she said unto her servants, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she told not her husband Nabal.

²⁰And it was so, as she rode on the ass, that she came down by the covert of the hill, and, behold, David and his men came down against her; and she met them.

²¹Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him: and he hath requited me evil for good.

²²So and more also do God unto the enemies of David, if I leave of all that pertain to him by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall.

²⁶Now therefore, my lord, as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, seeing the Lord hath withholden thee from coming to shed blood, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let thine enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal.

²⁷And now this blessing which thine handmaid hath brought unto my lord, let it even be given unto the young men that follow my lord.

¹⁰Well reported of for good works; if she have brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the saints’ feet, if she have relieved the afflicted, if she have diligently followed every good work.

⁵To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.

¹⁰For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.

¹¹For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies.

¹²Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread.

³⁹Then Peter arose and went with them. When he was come, they brought him into the upper chamber: and all the widows stood by him weeping, and shewing the coats and garments which Dorcas made, while she was with them.

⁴⁰But Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down, and prayed; and turning him to the body said, Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes: and when she saw Peter, she sat up.

⁶And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth.

⁷And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetcht a calf tender and good, and gave it unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it.

⁸And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.

¹³Behold, I stand here by the well of water; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water:

¹⁴And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast shewed kindness unto my master.

¹⁸And she said, Drink, my lord: and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink.

¹⁹And when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking.

²⁰And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels.

⁹¶ And while he yet spake with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep: for she kept them.

¹⁰And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, that Jacob went near, and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother.

¹⁶¶ Moreover the Lord saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet:

¹⁷Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will discover their secret parts.

¹⁸In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon,

¹⁹The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers,

²⁰The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings,

²¹The rings, and nose jewels,

²²The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins,

²³The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails.

²⁴And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty.

⁹¶ Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear my voice, ye careless daughters; give ear unto my speech.

¹⁰Many days and years shall ye be troubled, ye careless women: for the vintage shall fail, the gathering shall not come.

¹¹Tremble, ye women that are at ease; be troubled, ye careless ones: strip you, and make you bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins.

²And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter.

³And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech.

²³So she kept fast by the maidens of Boaz to glean unto the end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest; and dwelt with her mother in law.

¹¹And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you;

¹⁴I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.

¹⁶Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters: and they came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock.

²⁶¶ And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Ezion-geber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red sea, in the land of Edom.

²⁷And Hiram sent in the navy his servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon.

²⁸And they came to Ophir, and fetched from thence gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to king Solomon.

³And say unto Tyrus, O thou that art situate at the entry of the sea, which art a merchant of the people for many isles, Thus saith the Lord God; O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty.

⁴Thy borders are in the midst of the seas, thy builders have perfected thy beauty.

⁵They have made all thy ship boards of fir trees of Senir: they have taken cedars from Lebanon to make masts for thee.

⁶Of the oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars; the company of the Ashurites have made thy benches of ivory, brought out of the isles of Chittim.

⁷Fine linen with broidered work from Egypt was that which thou spreadest forth to be thy sail; blue and purple from the isles of Elishah was that which covered thee.

⁸The inhabitants of Zidon and Arvad were thy mariners: thy wise men, O Tyrus, that were in thee, were thy pilots.

⁹The ancients of Gebal and the wise men thereof were in thee thy calkers: all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in thee to occupy thy merchandise.

¹⁰They of Persia and of Lud and of Phut were in thine army, thy men of war: they hanged the shield and helmet in thee; they set forth thy comeliness.

¹¹The men of Arvad with thine army were upon thy walls round about, and the Gammadims were in thy towers: they hanged their shields upon thy walls round about; they have made thy beauty perfect.

¹²Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kind of riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded in thy fairs.

¹³Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were thy merchants: they traded the persons of men and vessels of brass in thy market.

¹⁴They of the house of Togarmah traded in thy fairs with horses and horsemen and mules.

¹⁵The men of Dedan were thy merchants; many isles were the merchandise of thine hand: they brought thee for a present horns of ivory and ebony.

¹⁶Syria was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of the wares of thy making: they occupied in thy fairs with emeralds, purple, and broidered work, and fine linen, and coral, and agate.

¹⁷Judah, and the land of Israel, they were thy merchants: they traded in thy market wheat of Minnith, and Pannag, and honey, and oil, and balm.

¹⁸Damascus was thy merchant in the multitude of the wares of thy making, for the multitude of all riches; in the wine of Helbon, and white wool.

¹⁹Dan also and Javan going to and fro occupied in thy fairs: bright iron, cassia, and calamus, were in thy market.

²⁰Dedan was thy merchant in precious clothes for chariots.

²¹Arabia, and all the princes of Kedar, they occupied with thee in lambs, and rams, and goats: in these were they thy merchants.

²²The merchants of Sheba and Raamah, they were thy merchants: they occupied in thy fairs with chief of all spices, and with all precious stones, and gold.

²³Haran, and Canneh, and Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad, were thy merchants.

²⁴These were thy merchants in all sorts of things, in blue clothes, and broidered work, and in chests of rich apparel, bound with cords, and made of cedar, among thy merchandise.

²⁵The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in thy market: and thou wast replenished, and made very glorious in the midst of the seas.

²⁶¶ Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters: the east wind hath broken thee in the midst of the seas.

²⁷Thy riches, and thy fairs, thy merchandise, thy mariners, and thy pilots, thy calkers, and the occupiers of thy merchandise, and all thy men of war, that are in thee, and in all thy company which is in the midst of thee, shall fall into the midst of the seas in the day of thy ruin.

²⁸The suburbs shall shake at the sound of the cry of thy pilots.

²⁹And all that handle the oar, the mariners, and all the pilots of the sea, shall come down from their ships, they shall stand upon the land;

³⁰And shall cause their voice to be heard against thee, and shall cry bitterly, and shall cast up dust upon their heads, they shall wallow themselves in the ashes:

³¹And they shall make themselves utterly bald for thee, and gird them with sackcloth, and they shall weep for thee with bitterness of heart and bitter wailing.

³²And in their wailing they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and lament over thee, saying, What city is like Tyrus, like the destroyed in the midst of the sea?

³³When thy wares went forth out of the seas, thou filledst many people; thou didst enrich the kings of the earth with the multitude of thy riches and of thy merchandise.

³⁴In the time when thou shalt be broken by the seas in the depths of the waters thy merchandise and all thy company in the midst of thee shall fall.

³⁵All the inhabitants of the isles shall be astonished at thee, and their kings shall be sore afraid, they shall be troubled in their countenance.

³⁶The merchants among the people shall hiss at thee; thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt be any more.

²⁴She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant.

¹⁰And the servants also of Huram, and the servants of Solomon, which brought gold from Ophir, brought algum trees and precious stones.

¹¹Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;

⁴²And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season?

³⁵And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.

¹³Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.

¹⁰Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.

¹⁵And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place:

¹AND Joshua rose early in the morning; and they removed from Shittim, and came to Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over.

¹⁴⁷I prevented the dawning of the morning, and cried: I hoped in thy word.

¹⁴⁸Mine eyes prevent the night watches, that I might meditate in thy word.

²⁵Behold, I have told you before.

⁴⁴¶ Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.

¹²My vineyard, which is mine, is before me: thou, O Solomon, must have a thousand, and those that keep the fruit thereof two hundred.

¹⁸And it came to pass, as she came unto him, that she moved him to ask of her father a field: and she lighted off her ass; and Caleb said unto her, What wouldest thou?

³Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.

¹³Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

¹⁰Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

⁴⁶And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.

¹⁴Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

³⁵Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning;

²⁹Then he said to Gehazi, Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thine hand, and go thy way: if thou meet any man, salute him not; and if any salute thee, answer him not again: and lay my staff upon the face of the child.

¹²The smith with the tongs both worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it with hammers, and worketh it with the strength of his arms: yea, he is hungry, and his strength faileth: he drinketh no water, and is faint.

²⁴But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)

¹⁵Though I have bound and strengthened their arms, yet do they imagine mischief against me.

⁹For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: for labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God.

³They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:

⁴But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.

⁵While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.

⁶And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.

⁷Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.

⁸And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.

⁹But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.

¹⁰And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.

⁷For yourselves know how ye ought to follow us: for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you;

⁸Neither did we eat any man’s bread for nought; but wrought with labour and travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you:

⁹Not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an ensample unto you to follow us.

⁴⁰Thus I was; in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from mine eyes.

²It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.

²⁵And all the women that were wise hearted did spin with their hands, and brought that which they had spun, both of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine linen.

²⁶And all the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun goats’ hair.

²⁸Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.

¹⁶But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

¹⁷He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.

⁹He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor.

³⁴Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me.

³⁵I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

¹¹For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.

¹BLESSED is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.

¹³Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.

¹⁶If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail;

¹⁷Or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof;

¹⁸(For from my youth he was brought up with me, as with a father, and I have guided her from my mother’s womb;)

¹⁹If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any poor without covering;

²⁰If his loins have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;

⁹He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor; his righteousness endureth for ever; his horn shall be exalted with honour.

³⁹Then Peter arose and went with them. When he was come, they brought him into the upper chamber: and all the widows stood by him weeping, and shewing the coats and garments which Dorcas made, while she was with them.

⁴⁰But Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down, and prayed; and turning him to the body said, Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes: and when she saw Peter, she sat up.

⁴¹And he gave her his hand, and lifted her up, and when he had called the saints and widows, presented her alive.

¹CAST thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.

²Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.

⁷For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always.

²¹But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.

²⁴¶ Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;

²²To all of them he gave each man changes of raiment; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of raiment.

²⁴Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet, with other delights, who put on ornaments of gold upon your apparel.

²⁰As he that taketh away a garment in cold weather, and as vinegar upon nitre, so is he that singeth songs to an heavy heart.

⁸And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

⁴²And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck;

¹⁶I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt.

³Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;

¹⁵¶ And Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a garment of fine linen and purple: and the city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad.

¹⁰I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with badgers’ skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk.

¹¹I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck.

¹²And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head.

¹³Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom.

²⁶And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold; beside ornaments, and collars, and purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian, and beside the chains that were about their camels’ necks.

¹³The king’s daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold.

¹⁴She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework: the virgins her companions that follow her shall be brought unto thee.

¹⁴And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.

¹NOW it came to pass on the third day, that Esther put on her royal apparel, and stood in the inner court of the king’s house, over against the king’s house: and the king sat upon his royal throne in the royal house, over against the gate of the house.

⁴A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones.

¹THEN went Boaz up to the gate, and sat him down there: and, behold, the kinsman of whom Boaz spake came by; unto whom he said, Ho, such a one! turn aside, sit down here. And he turned aside, and sat down.

¹⁸¶ Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge the people with just judgment.

¹⁹Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place;

⁷When I went out to the gate through the city, when I prepared my seat in the street!

⁷Wisdom is too high for a fool: he openeth not his mouth in the gate.

¹¹And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses. The Lord make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel: and do thou worthily in Ephratah, and be famous in Beth-lehem:

¹⁶Syria was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of the wares of thy making: they occupied in thy fairs with emeralds, purple, and broidered work, and fine linen, and coral, and agate.

¹⁹¶ There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:

²⁸¶ And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and linen yarn: the king’s merchants received the linen yarn at a price.

¹²¶ And Samson said unto them, I will now put forth a riddle unto you: if ye can certainly declare it me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty sheets and thirty change of garments:

¹³She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.

¹⁹She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff.

¹⁰Deck thyself now with majesty and excellency; and array thyself with glory and beauty.

¹⁴But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

¹⁰But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.

²⁴And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

¹⁰I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.

¹⁴I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem.

⁵Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.

⁶Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:

⁹Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness; and let thy saints shout for joy.

¹¹Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.

¹²Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous; and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.

¹³Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry: behold, my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty: behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed:

¹⁴Behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit.

¹⁶I will also clothe her priests with salvation: and her saints shall shout aloud for joy.

²⁰And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.

²¹His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

²⁹Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

²⁴Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.

³¹The mouth of the just bringeth forth wisdom: but the froward tongue shall be cut out.

¹⁸There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise is health.

⁴But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.

⁵For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands:

⁵Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.

⁸Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction.

⁹Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.

⁸Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:

⁹Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.

⁶The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity.

¹LIKEWISE, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives;

²³But his wife said unto him, If the Lord were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands, neither would he have shewed us all these things, nor would as at this time have told us such things as these.

¹⁵By long forbearing is a prince persuaded, and a soft tongue breaketh the bone.

²⁴And fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be: and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience, and hear the words of thine handmaid.

²⁵Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal: for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send.

²⁶Now therefore, my lord, as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, seeing the Lord hath withholden thee from coming to shed blood, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let thine enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal.

²⁷And now this blessing which thine handmaid hath brought unto my lord, let it even be given unto the young men that follow my lord.

²⁸I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid: for the Lord will certainly make my lord a sure house; because my lord fighteth the battles of the Lord, and evil hath not been found in thee all thy days.

²⁹Yet a man is risen to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul: but the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the Lord thy God; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out, as out of the middle of a sling.

³⁰And it shall come to pass, when the Lord shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee, and shall have appointed thee ruler over Israel;

³¹That this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offence of heart unto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood causeless, or that my lord hath avenged himself: but when the Lord shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thine handmaid.

⁸If I have found favour in the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my petition, and to perform my request, let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I shall prepare for them, and I will do to morrow as the king hath said.

³Then Esther the queen answered and said, If I have found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request:

⁴For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not countervail the king’s damage.

⁵¶ Then the king Ahasuerus answered and said unto Esther the queen, Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in his heart to do so?

⁶And Esther said, The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.

³¶ And Esther spake yet again before the king, and fell down at his feet, and besought him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman the Agagite, and his device that he had devised against the Jews.

⁴Then the king held out the golden sceptre toward Esther. So Esther arose, and stood before the king,

⁵And said, If it please the king, and if I have found favour in his sight, and the thing seem right before the king, and I be pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews which are in all the king’s provinces:

⁶For how can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto my people? or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?

⁴²And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.

⁴³And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

⁴⁴For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.

⁴⁵And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.

⁴⁶And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,

⁴⁷And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

⁴⁸For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

⁴⁹For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name.

⁵⁰And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation.

⁵¹He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

⁵²He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree.

⁵³He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.

⁵⁴He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy;

⁵⁵As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever.

⁵⁶And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to her own house.

¹⁵¶ And she said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Tell the man that sent you to me,

¹⁶Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read:

¹⁷Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched.

¹⁸But to the king of Judah which sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall ye say to him, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, As touching the words which thou hast heard;

¹⁹Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith the Lord.

²⁰Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place. And they brought the king word again.

¹⁶¶ Then cried a wise woman out of the city, Hear, hear; say, I pray you, unto Joab, Come near hither, that I may speak with thee.

¹⁷And when he was come near unto her, the woman said, Art thou Joab? And he answered, I am he. Then she said unto him, Hear the words of thine handmaid. And he answered, I do hear.

¹⁸Then she spake, saying, They were wont to speak in old time, saying, They shall surely ask counsel at Abel: and so they ended the matter.

¹⁹I am one of them that are peaceable and faithful in Israel: thou seekest to destroy a city and a mother in Israel: why wilt thou swallow up the inheritance of the Lord?

²⁰And Joab answered and said, Far be it, far be it from me, that I should swallow up or destroy.

²¹The matter is not so: but a man of mount Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name, hath lifted up his hand against the king, even against David: deliver him only, and I will depart from the city. And the woman said unto Joab, Behold, his head shall be thrown to thee over the wall.

²²Then the woman went unto all the people in her wisdom. And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri, and cast it out to Joab. And he blew a trumpet, and they retired from the city, every man to his tent. And Joab returned to Jerusalem unto the king.

²⁶And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.

¹⁵And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.

³⁸And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

¹⁴¶ O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.

¹¹Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb: honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon.

⁴¶ So Esther’s maids and her chamberlains came and told it her. Then was the queen exceedingly grieved; and she sent raiment to clothe Mordecai, and to take away his sackcloth from him: but he received it not.

¹⁸And she said, Drink, my lord: and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink.

¹⁹And when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking.

²⁰And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels.