{Or, The words of Lemuel king of Massa, which &c. See chapter 30:1 margin.}The words of king Lemuel; the {Or, burden}oracle which his mother taught him.
What, my son? and what, O son of my womb?
And what, O son of my vows?
Give not thy strength unto women,
Nor thy ways to {Or, as otherwise read, them that destroy}that which destroyeth kings.
It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine;
Nor for princes {Another reading is, to desire strong drink.}to say, Where is strong drink?
Lest they drink, and forget {Hebrew: that which is decreed.}the law,
And pervert the justice due to {Hebrew: all the sons of the affliction.}any that is afflicted.
Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish,
And wine unto the bitter in soul:
Let him drink, and forget his poverty,
And remember his misery no more.
Open thy mouth for the dumb,
In the cause of all such as are {Or, ready to pass away Hebrew; the sons of passing away.}left desolate.
Open thy mouth, judge righteously,
And minister justice to the poor and needy.
A worthy woman who can find?
For her price is far above rubies.
The heart of her husband trusteth in her,
And he shall have no lack of {Hebrew: spoil.}gain.
She doeth him good and not evil
All the days of her life.
She seeketh wool and flax,
And worketh {Or, at the business of}willingly with her hands.
She is like the merchant-ships;
She bringeth her bread from afar.
She riseth also while it is yet night,
And giveth food to her household,
And their {Or, portion}task to her maidens.
She considereth a field, and buyeth it;
With the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.
She girdeth her loins with strength,
And maketh strong her arms.
She perceiveth that her merchandise is profitable;
Her lamp goeth not out by night.
She layeth her hands to the distaff,
And her {Hebrew: palms.}hands hold the spindle.
She stretcheth out her {Hebrew: palm.}hand to the poor;
Yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.
She is not afraid of the snow for her household;
For all her household are clothed with scarlet.
She maketh for herself {Or, cushions}carpets of tapestry;
Her clothing is fine linen and purple.
Her husband is known in the gates,
When he sitteth among the elders of the land.
She maketh linen garments and selleth them,
And delivereth girdles unto the {Hebrew: Canaanites.}merchant.
Strength and dignity are her clothing;
And she laugheth at the time to come.
She openeth her mouth with wisdom;
And the {Or, teaching}law of kindness is on her tongue.
She looketh well to the ways of her household,
And eateth not the bread of idleness.
Her children rise up, and call her blessed;
Her husband also, and he praiseth her, saying:
Many daughters have done worthily,
But thou excellest them all.
Grace is deceitful, and beauty is vain;
But a woman that feareth Jehovah, she shall be praised.
Give her of the fruit of her hands;
And let her works praise her in the gates.
Querverweise zu Sprüche 31,4 Spr 31,4
Drink no wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tent of meeting, that ye die not: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations:
and {Or, ye shall}that ye may make a distinction between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean;
And it came to pass, when Ben-hadad heard this message, as he was drinking, he and the kings, in the {Or, huts}pavilions, that he said unto his servants, {Or, Place the engines. And they placed the engines}Set yourselves in array. And they set themselves in array against the city.
And they went out at noon. But Ben-hadad was drinking himself drunk in the {Or, huts}pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings that helped him.
And the young men of the princes of the provinces went out first; and Ben-hadad sent out, and they told him, saying, There are men come out from Samaria.
And he said, Whether they are come out for peace, take them alive, or whether they are come out for war, taken them alive.
So these went out of the city, the young men of the princes of the provinces, and the army which followed them.
And they slew every one his man; and the Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them: and Ben-hadad the king of Syria escaped {Or, with horse and horsemen}on a horse with horsemen.
The posts went forth in haste by the king's commandment, and the decree was given out in Shushan the palace. And the king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city of Shushan was perplexed.
Happy art thou, O land, when thy king is {Or, a free man}the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!
And even these reel with wine, and stagger with strong drink; the priest and the prophet reel with strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they stagger with strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.
For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean.
Belshazzar, while he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king and his lords, his wives and his concubines, might drink therefrom.
Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king and his lords, his wives and his concubines, drank from them.
They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.
Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the {Hebrew: heart.}understanding.
My people ask counsel at their stock, and their staff declareth unto them; for the spirit of whoredom hath caused them to err, and they have played the harlot, departing from under their God.
They make the king glad with their wickedness, and the princes with their lies.
They are all adulterers; they are as an oven heated by the baker; he ceaseth to stir the fire, from the kneading of the dough, until it be leavened.
On the day of our king the princes made {Or, him}themselves sick with the heat of wine; he stretched out his hand with scoffers.
{Or, And also because his wine…he is a haughty man}Yea, moreover, wine is treacherous, a haughty man, {Or, he shall not abide}that keepeth not at home; who enlargeth his desire as Sheol, and he is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all peoples.
And when a convenient day was come, that Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords, and the {Or, military tribunes Greek: chiliarchs.}high captains, and the chief men of Galilee;
and when {Some ancient authorities read his daughter Herodias.}the daughter of Herodias herself came in and danced, {Or, it}she pleased Herod and them that sat at meat with him; and the king said unto the damsel, Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee.
And he sware unto her, Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, unto the half of my kingdom.
And she went out, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, The head of John the Baptizer.
And she came in straightway with haste unto the king, and asked, saying, I will that thou forthwith give me on a platter the head of John the Baptist.
And the king was exceeding sorry; but for the sake of his oaths, and of them that sat at meat, he would not reject her.
And straightway the king sent forth a soldier of his guard, and commanded to bring his head: and he went and beheaded him in the prison,
and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the damsel; and the damsel gave it to her mother.