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Wednesday, July 9th, 2025
the Week of Proper 9 / Ordinary 14
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Read the Bible

Christian Standard Bible ®

Proverbs 31:30

Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting,but a woman who fears the Lord will be praised.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Beauty;   Economics;   Fear of God;   Poetry;   Vanity;   Wife;   Women;   Thompson Chain Reference - Beauty;   Beauty-Disfigurement;   Virtues;   Wise;   Woman;   Women;   The Topic Concordance - Deception;   Fear;   Praise;   Vanity;   Virtue;   Women;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Industry;   Vanity;   Woman;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Lemuel;   Letters;   Proverb, the Book of;   Woman;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Wife;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Beauty;   Boasting;   Praise;   Woman;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Poetry;   Wife;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Education;   Lemuel;   Marriage;   Tamar (2);   Holman Bible Dictionary - Acrostic;   Charm;   Praise;   Proverbs, Book of;   Wisdom and Wise Men;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Acrostic;   Ethics;   Grace;   Marriage;   Massa;   Song of Songs;   Trade and Commerce;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Face;   Home (2);   Parents (2);   Sirach;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Poetry;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Mother;   Writing;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Favor;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Acrostics;   Monogamy;   Poetry;  

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain; But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.
King James Version
Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord , she shall be praised.
English Standard Version
Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
New American Standard Bible
Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.
New Century Version
Charm can fool you, and beauty can trick you, but a woman who respects the Lord should be praised.
Amplified Bible
Charm and grace are deceptive, and [superficial] beauty is vain, But a woman who fears the LORD [reverently worshiping, obeying, serving, and trusting Him with awe-filled respect], she shall be praised.
World English Bible
Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain; But a woman who fears Yahweh, she shall be praised.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Fauour is deceitfull, and beautie is vanitie: but a woman that feareth the Lorde, she shall be praysed.
Legacy Standard Bible
Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain,But a woman who fears Yahweh, she shall be praised.
Berean Standard Bible
Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
Contemporary English Version
Charm can be deceiving, and beauty fades away, but a woman who honors the Lord deserves to be praised.
Complete Jewish Bible
ש Charm can lie, beauty can vanish, but a woman who fears Adonai should be praised.
Darby Translation
Gracefulness is deceitful and beauty is vain; a woman [that] feareth Jehovah, she shall be praised.
Easy-to-Read Version
Grace and beauty can fool you, but a woman who respects the Lord should be praised.
George Lamsa Translation
Comeliness is deceitful and beauty is vain; but a woman who reverences the LORD shall be praised.
Good News Translation
Charm is deceptive and beauty disappears, but a woman who honors the Lord should be praised.
Lexham English Bible
Charm is deceit and beauty is vain; but a woman who fears Yahweh shall be praised.
Literal Translation
Grace may be deceitful, and beauty vain, but a woman who fears Jehovah, she shall be praised.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
As for fauor, it is disceatfull, and beutie is a vayne thinge: but a woman that feareth the LORDE, she is worthy to be praysed.
American Standard Version
Grace is deceitful, and beauty is vain; But a woman that feareth Jehovah, she shall be praised.
Bible in Basic English
Fair looks are a deceit, and a beautiful form is of no value; but a woman who has the fear of the Lord is to be praised.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Grace is deceitful, and beauty is vain; but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.
King James Version (1611)
Fauour is deceitfull, and beautie is vaine: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shalbe praised.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
As for fauour it is deceiptfull, & beautie is a vayne thyng: but a woman that feareth the Lorde, shalbe praysed.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Charms are false, and woman’s beauty is vain: for it is a wise woman that is blessed, and let her praise the fear the Lord.
English Revised Version
Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Fairnesse is disseiuable grace, and veyn; thilke womman, that dredith the Lord, schal be preisid.
Update Bible Version
Grace is deceitful, and beauty is vain; [But] a woman that fears Yahweh, she shall be praised.
Webster's Bible Translation
Favor [is] deceitful, and beauty [is] vain: [but] a woman [that] feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.
New English Translation
Charm is deceitful and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord will be praised.
New King James Version
Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.
New Living Translation
Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised.
New Life Bible
Pleasing ways lie and beauty comes to nothing, but a woman who fears the Lord will be praised.
New Revised Standard
Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Deceitful is loveliness and vain is beauty, The woman that revereth Yahweh, she, shall be praised:
Douay-Rheims Bible
Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: the woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.
Revised Standard Version
Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
Young's Literal Translation
The grace [is] false, and the beauty [is] vain, A woman fearing Jehovah, she may boast herself.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.

Contextual Overview

10Who can find a wife of noble character?She is far more precious than jewels. 11The heart of her husband trusts in her,and he will not lack anything good. 12She rewards him with good, not evil,all the days of her life. 13She selects wool and flaxand works with willing hands. 14She is like the merchant ships,bringing her food from far away. 15She rises while it is still nightand provides food for her householdand portions for her female servants. 16She evaluates a field and buys it;she plants a vineyard with her earnings. 17She draws on her strengthand reveals that her arms are strong. 18She sees that her profits are good,and her lamp never goes out at night. 19She extends her hands to the spinning staff,and her hands hold the spindle.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Favour: Proverbs 6:25, Proverbs 11:22, 2 Samuel 14:25, Esther 1:11, Esther 1:12, Ezekiel 16:15, James 1:11, 1 Peter 1:24

a woman: Proverbs 1:7, Proverbs 8:13, Exodus 1:17-21, Psalms 147:11, Luke 1:6, Luke 1:46-50, 1 Peter 3:4, 1 Peter 3:5

she: Ecclesiastes 7:18, Ecclesiastes 12:13, Romans 2:29, 1 Corinthians 4:5, 1 Peter 1:7, 1 Peter 3:4

Reciprocal: Genesis 29:17 - beautiful Deuteronomy 21:11 - desire 1 Samuel 16:7 - Look not 1 Samuel 25:3 - good 1 Samuel 25:39 - to take her 2 Samuel 11:2 - very beautiful 2 Samuel 13:1 - a fair sister 1 Kings 4:32 - he spake Proverbs 11:16 - gracious Acts 9:39 - and showing

Cross-References

Genesis 31:1
Now Jacob heard what Laban’s sons were saying: “Jacob has taken all that was our father’s and has built this wealth from what belonged to our father.”
Genesis 31:2
And Jacob saw from Laban’s face that his attitude toward him was not the same as before.
Genesis 31:6
You know that with all my strength I have served your father
Genesis 31:19
When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s household idols.
Exodus 12:12
“I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night and strike every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, both people and animals. I am the Lord; I will execute judgments against all the gods of Egypt.
Numbers 33:4
Meanwhile, the Egyptians were burying every firstborn male the Lord had struck down among them, for the Lord had executed judgment against their gods.
Judges 6:31
But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Would you plead Baal’s case for him? Would you save him? Whoever pleads his case will be put to death by morning! If he is a god, let him plead his own case because someone tore down his altar.”
Judges 18:24
He said, “You took the gods I had made and the priest, and went away. What do I have left? How can you say to me, ‘What’s the matter with you?’”
2 Samuel 5:21
The Philistines abandoned their idols there, and David and his men carried them off.
Isaiah 37:19
They have thrown their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but made from wood and stone by human hands. So they have destroyed them.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Favour is deceitful, and beauty [is] vain,.... A well favoured look, a graceful countenance, symmetry and proportion of parts, natural or artificial beauty, are vain and deceitful; oftentimes under them lies an ill natured, deformed, and depraved mind; nor is the pleasure and satisfaction enjoyed as is promised along with these; and particularly how do they fade e and consume away by a fit of illness, and through old age, and at last by death? And so vain and deceitful are the favour and beauty, the artificial paintings, of Jezebel, that whore of Rome; all her meretricious deckings, dressings, and ornaments; her gaudy pomp and show in her worship, and the places of it; see

Revelation 17:4. Jarchi interprets this of the grandeur and glory of the kings of the nations;

[but] a woman [that] feareth the Lord, she shall be praised; any single individual, man or woman, that fears the Lord; or a collective body of them, a society consisting of such persons, as the true church of Christ does; who have the grace of fear in their hearts, which is the beginning of wisdom, and includes the whole of religious worship, internal and external, private and public: such are taken notice of and highly valued by the Lord; his eye is upon them; his hand communicates to them much grace; and many benefits are bestowed upon them here, and great honour is conferred upon them, and great goodness is laid up for them.

e "Forma bonum fragile est", Ovid. de Arte Amandi, l. 2.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The last lesson of the book is the same as the first. The fear of the Lord is the condition of all womanly, as well as of all manly, excellence.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Proverbs 31:30. Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain, c.

III. Here is the summing up of the character.

1. Favour, חן chen, grace of manner may be deceitful, many a fair appearance of this kind is put on, assumed for certain secular or more unworthy purposes it is learned by painful drilling in polished seminaries, and, being the effect of mere physical discipline, it continues while the restraint lasts; but it is שקר sheker, a lie, a mere semblance, an outward varnish. It is not the effect of internal moral regulation; it is an outside, at which the inside murmurs; and which, because not ingenuous, is a burden to itself.

2. Beauty, היפי haiyophi, elegance of shape, symmetry of features, dignity of mien, and beauty of countenance, are all הבל hebel, vanity; sickness impairs them, suffering deranges them, and death destroys them.

3. "But a woman that feareth the Lord," that possesses true religion, has that grace that harmonizes the soul, that purifies and refines all the tempers and passions, and that ornament of beauty, a meek and quiet mind, which in the sight of God is of great price-

She shall be praised. — This is the lasting grace, the unfading beauty.


 
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