{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 31,14 Spr 31,14
She maketh linen garments and selleth them,And delivereth girdles unto the {Hebrew: Canaanites.}merchant.
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.
And Hiram sent in the navy his servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon.
And they came to Ophir, and fetched from thence gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to king Solomon.
And the servants also of Huram, and the servants of Solomon, that brought gold from Ophir, brought {In 1 Kings 10:11, almug-trees.}algum-trees and precious stones.
and say unto Tyre, O thou that dwellest at the {Hebrew: entrances.}entry of the sea, that art the merchant of the peoples unto many isles, thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Thou, O Tyre, hast said, I am perfect in beauty.
Thy borders are in the heart of the seas; thy builders have perfected thy beauty.
They have {Hebrew: built.}made all thy planks of fir-trees from Senir; they have taken a cedar from Lebanon to make a mast for thee.
Of the oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars; they have made thy {Or, deck}benches of ivory inlaid in boxwood, from the isles of Kittim.
Of fine linen with broidered work from Egypt was thy sail, that it might be to thee for an ensign; blue and purple from the isles of Elishah was thine awning.
The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad were thy rowers: thy wise men, O Tyre, were in thee, they were thy pilots.
The {Or, elders}old men 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 {Or, exchange}deal in thy merchandise.
Persia and Lud and Put were in thine army, thy men of war: they hanged the shield and helmet in thee; they set forth thy comeliness.
The men of Arvad with thine army were upon thy walls round about, and valorous men were in thy towers; they hanged their shields upon thy walls round about; they have perfected thy beauty.
Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kinds of riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded for thy wares.
Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were thy traffickers; they traded the persons of men and vessels of brass for thy merchandise.
They of the house of Togarmah traded for thy wares with horses and war-horses and mules.
The men of Dedan were thy traffickers; many isles were the mart of thy hand: they brought thee {Or, for a present}in exchange horns of ivory and ebony.
Syria was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of thy handiworks: they traded for thy wares with {Or, carbuncles}emeralds, purple, and broidered work, and fine linen, and coral, and rubies.
Judah, and the land of Israel, they were thy traffickers: they traded for thy merchandise wheat of Minnith, and {Perhaps, a kind of confection.}pannag, and honey, and oil, and balm.
Damascus was thy merchant for the multitude of thy handiworks, by reason of the multitude of all kinds of riches, with the wine of Helbon, and white wool.
Vedan and Javan traded {Or, as otherwise read, from Uzal.}with yarn for thy wares: {Or, wrought}bright iron, cassia, and calamus, were among thy merchandise.
Dedan was thy trafficker in precious cloths for riding.
Arabia, and all the princes of Kedar, they were the merchants of thy hand; in lambs, and rams, and goats, in these were they thy merchants.
The traffickers of Sheba and Raamah, they were thy traffickers; they traded for thy wares with the chief of all spices, and with all precious stones, and gold.
Haran and Canneh and Eden, the traffickers of Sheba, Asshur and Chilmad, were thy traffickers.
These were thy traffickers in choice wares, in {Or, bales}wrappings of blue and broidered work, and in chests of rich apparel, bound with cords and made of cedar, among thy merchandise.
The ships of Tarshish were thy caravans for thy merchandise: and thou wast replenished, and made very glorious in the heart of the seas.
Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters: the east wind hath broken thee in the heart of the seas.
Thy riches, and thy wares, thy merchandise, thy mariners, and thy pilots, thy calkers, and the {Or, exchangers}dealers in thy merchandise, and all thy men of war, that are in thee, {Or, and in}with all thy company which is in the midst of thee, shall fall into the heart of the seas in the day of thy ruin.
At the sound of the cry of thy pilots the {Or, waves}suburbs shall shake.
And all that handled the oar, the mariners, and all the pilots of the sea, shall come down from their ships; they shall stand upon the land,
and shall cause their voice to be heard over thee, and shall cry bitterly, and shall cast up dust upon their heads, they shall wallow themselves in the ashes:
and they shall make themselves bald for thee, and gird them with sackcloth, and they shall weep for thee in bitterness of soul with bitter mourning.
And in their wailing they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and lament over thee, saying, Who is there like Tyre, like her that is brought to silence in the midst of the sea?
When thy wares went forth out of the seas, thou filledst many peoples; thou didst enrich the kings of the earth with the multitude of thy riches and of thy merchandise.
In the time that thou wast broken by the seas in the depths of the waters, thy merchandise and all thy company did fall in the midst of thee.
All the inhabitants of the isles are astonished at thee, and their kings are horribly afraid; they are troubled in their countenance.
The merchants among the peoples hiss at thee; thou art become {Or, a destruction}a terror, and thou shalt nevermore have any being.