{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 31,8 Spr 31,8
Wisdom is too high for a fool:He openeth not his mouth in the gate.
Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee:According to the greatness of {Hebrew: thine arm.}thy power preserve thou {Hebrew: the children of death.}those that are appointed to death;
Deliver them that are carried away unto death,And those that are {Hebrew: tottering to the slaughter.}ready to be slain {Or, forbear thou not to deliver}see that thou hold back.
If thou sayest, Behold, we knew not {Or, this man}this;Doth not he that weigheth the hearts consider it?And he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it?And shall not he render to every man according to his work?
And Jonathan spake good of David unto Saul his father, and said unto him, Let not the king sin against his servant, against David; because he hath not sinned against thee, and because his works have been to thee-ward very good:
for he put his life in his hand, and smote the Philistine, and Jehovah wrought a great {Hebrew: salvation.}victory for all Israel: thou sawest it, and didst rejoice; wherefore then wilt thou sin against innocent blood, to slay David without a cause?
And Saul hearkened unto the voice of Jonathan: and Saul sware, As Jehovah liveth, he shall not be put to death.
And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan showed him all those things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence, as beforetime.
And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said unto him, Wherefore should he be put to death? what hath he done?
Then Ahimelech answered the king, and said, And who among all thy servants is so faithful as David, who is the king's son-in-law, and is taken into thy council, and is honorable in thy house?
Have I to-day begun to inquire of God for him? be it far from me: let not the king impute anything unto his servant, nor to all the house of my father; for thy servant knoweth nothing of all this, less or more.
Then Mordecai bade them return answer unto Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house, more than all the Jews.
For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then will relief and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place, but thou and thy father's house will perish: and who knoweth whether thou art not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?
Then Esther bade them return answer unto Mordecai,
Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast in like manner; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.
The princes refrained from talking,And laid their hand on their mouth;
And I brake the {Hebrew: great teeth.}jaws of the unrighteous,And plucked the prey out of his teeth.
Judge the {Or, weak}poor and fatherless:Do justice to the afflicted and destitute.
Rescue the {Or, weak}poor and needy:Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.
Then said the princes and all the people unto the priests and to the prophets: This man is not worthy of death; for he hath spoken to us in the name of Jehovah our God.
Then rose up certain of the elders of the land, and spake to all the assembly of the people, saying,
{Hebrew: Micaiah.}Micah the Morashtite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah; and he spake to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Zion shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.
Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? did he not fear Jehovah, and entreat the favor of Jehovah, and Jehovah repented him of the evil which he had pronounced against them? Thus should we commit great evil against our own souls.
But the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death.
Now when Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch, who was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon (the king then sitting in the gate of Benjamin),
Ebed-melech went forth out of the king's house, and spake to the king, saying,
My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon; and {Hebrew: he is dead.}he is like to die in the place where he is, because of the famine; for there is no more bread in the city.
Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Take from hence thirty men with thee, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon, before he die.
Doth our law judge a man, except it first hear from himself and know what he doeth?