young ladies

³⁰Charm is false, and beauty is vain. The woman who fears the Lord, the same shall be praised.

⁹Similarly also, women should be dressed fittingly, adorning themselves with compunction and restraint, and not with plaited hair, nor gold, nor pearls, nor costly attire,

¹²Their sons are like new plantings in their youth. Their daughters are dressed up: adorned all around like the idols of a temple.

⁴so that they may teach prudence to the young women, so that they may love their husbands, love their children, ⁵be sensible, chaste, restrained, have concern for the household, be kind, be subordinate to their husbands: so that the Word of God may be not blasphemed.

⁵Have confidence in the Lord with all your heart, and do not depend upon your own prudence. ⁶In all your ways, consider him, and he himself will direct your steps.

²And do not choose to be conformed to this age, but instead choose to be reformed in the newness of your mind, so that you may demonstrate what is the will of God: what is good, and what is well-pleasing, and what is perfect.

²with old women, like mothers; with young women, in all chastity, like sisters.

¹¹For I know the thoughts that I think over you, says the Lord: thoughts of peace and not of affliction, so that I may give you patience and an end.

²²A beautiful and senseless woman is like a gold ring in the snout of a swine.

³For you, there should be no unnecessary adornment of the hair, or surrounding with gold, or the wearing of ornate clothing. ⁴Instead, you should be a hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptibility of a quiet and meek spirit, rich in the sight of God.

³⁴And the unmarried woman and the virgin think about the things that are of the Lord, so that she may be holy in body and in spirit. But she who is married thinks about the things that are of the world, as to how she may please her husband.

¹⁰Who shall find a strong woman? Far away, and from the furthest parts, is her price. ¹¹The heart of her husband confides in her, and he will not be deprived of spoils. ¹²She will repay him with good, and not evil, all the days of her life. ¹³She has sought wool and flax, and she has worked these by the counsel of her hands. ¹⁴She has become like a merchant’s ship, bringing her bread from far away. ¹⁵And she has risen in the night, and given a prey to her household, and provisions to her maids.

²²So then, flee from the desires of your youth, yet truly, pursue justice, faith, hope, charity, and peace, along with those who call upon the Lord from a pure heart.

¹But you are to speak the things that befit sound doctrine. ²Old men should be sober, chaste, prudent, sound in faith, in love, in patience. ³Old women, similarly, should be in holy attire, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teaching well, ⁴so that they may teach prudence to the young women, so that they may love their husbands, love their children, ⁵be sensible, chaste, restrained, have concern for the household, be kind, be subordinate to their husbands: so that the Word of God may be not blasphemed. ⁶Exhort young men similarly, so that they may show self-restraint.

¹²Let no one despise your youth, but be an example among the faithful in word, in behavior, in charity, in faith, in chastity.

⁶Be anxious about nothing. But in all things, with prayer and supplication, with acts of thanksgiving, let your petitions be made known to God. ⁷And so shall the peace of God, which exceeds all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

²⁵Strength and elegance are her clothing, and she will laugh in the final days. ²⁶She has opened her mouth to wisdom, and the law of clemency is on her tongue. ²⁷She has considered the paths of her household, and she has not eaten her bread in idleness. ²⁸Her sons rose up and predicted great happiness; her husband rose up and praised her. ²⁹Many daughters have gathered together riches; you have surpassed them all.

²⁰I live; yet now, it is not I, but truly Christ, who lives in me. And though I live now in the flesh, I live in the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and who delivered himself for me.