Proverbs 31:13 and 14

NIV
¹³ She selects wool and flax
and works with eager hands.

¹⁴ She is like the merchant ships,
bringing her food from afar.

NASB

¹³She looks for wool and flax
And works with her hands in delight.
¹⁴She is like merchant ships;
She brings her food from afar.

KJ

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

¹⁴She is like the merchants' ships; she bringeth her food from afar.

NLT

¹³ She finds wool and flax
and busily spins it.
¹⁴ She is like a merchant’s ship,
bringing her food from afar.

Thoughts from Emilee and Mama-

We can choose to do our work with a happy heart or we can make ourselves miserable by grumbling and complaining about our work. While it would be nice to have ten maids to do our work for us, we would most likely become lazy, unproductive, and our men would not praise us.

Finding healthy foods that are organic, unprocessed, GMO-free, natural, and farm raised is not an easy task but a worthy one. Mama works hard to get our family the best and most real food and it doesn't come from the store down the street. She has to gather it from all over and some of it is from afar.

Proverbs 31:11 and 12

^NIV
11 Her husband has full confidence in her
and lacks nothing of value.
¹² She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.

NASB
¹¹The heart of her husband trusts in her,
And he will have no lack of gain.
¹²She does him good and not evil
All the days of her life.

NLT
¹¹ Her husband can trust her,
and she will greatly enrich his life.
¹² She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.

KJV

¹¹The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. ¹²She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.

Thoughts from Emilee and Mom-

Her husband trusts her completely. He trust her to be a good wife. She is kind and good to everyone. He has everything he needs from her. She takes care of him, meets his needs, takes care of his children and herself. She cooks and takes care of their home. She does only good for him and not harm. She is not lazy. Doing him good means the same thing as him being able to trust her. She does this not just when she feels like it but rather all the days of her life.

Proverbs 31:10

Did you know that Proverbs 31:10-31 is an acrostic? Each verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. How neat is that. Acrostics are usually meant to be memorized. Emilee and I are going to work on memorizing this section of Scripture together.

NIV
¹⁰ A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.

NASB
¹⁰An excellent wife, who can find?
For her worth is far above jewels.

NLT
¹⁰ Who can find a virtuous and capable wife?
She is more precious than rubies.

KJ
¹⁰Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.

Thoughts from Emilee and Mama:

We are precious to God. He loves us so much. As His daughters we are worth more than rubies or gold! A man who wants a godly wife may look for one that is pretty (takes care of her appearance), loving, kind, gentle, not lazy, a good housekeeper, loves children, is a good friend, and can cook. We both need to strive to be this woman. No woman is perfect but we can try hard to have these characteristics and skills. When we strive to be an excellent wife our husbands will cherish us in the same way God does; far above jewels.

Proverbs 31

Emilee and I have been reading God's Wisdom for Little Girls together. I've also been reading God's Wisdom for Little Boys with Jon as well. When I told Emilee that there was a whole section of scripture about how to be a Godly woman, her face lit up with joy and excitement. She and I are going to embark on a little Prov. 31 Woman study together to see what we can glean from it and how we can apply those virtues to each of our lives right now. I'll be sharing it here.