“Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.”
Proverbs 31:25 (KJV)
Beloved, many women have a complicated relationship with Proverbs 31. Read quickly, it can feel like a list of everything you are not doing: up before dawn, running a business, sewing, trading, never resting. Let us slow down and see what this verse is really saying.
A mother’s words
The chapter begins: “The words of king Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him.” This is a mother teaching her son what to look for and what to honour in a woman.
Verses 10 to 31 are a poem written as an acrostic. In Hebrew, each verse begins with the next letter of the alphabet, from first to last. It is a carefully crafted portrait, a song of praise. It was not written as a daily to-do list.
What “virtuous” really means
Verse 10 asks, “Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.” The Hebrew word translated “virtuous” is chayil. Elsewhere in the Old Testament the same word is used for strength, valour and even for armies and mighty men of war.
So this is not a fragile or timid picture. It is a woman of strength and courage. The same phrase is used of Ruth, a widow and a foreigner, when Boaz says, “all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman” (Ruth 3:11). Ruth was not wealthy or powerful. She was faithful, brave and loyal in the middle of loss.
Clothed in strength
“Strength and honour are her clothing.” Clothing is something you put on every day. It is what people see first. This woman’s outfit is not described in terms of fabric or fashion. It is the strength and dignity she carries.
And then: “she shall rejoice in time to come.” Other translations put it, “she can laugh at the days to come.” She is not anxious about the future, not because she has controlled every outcome, but because of where her confidence rests.
The real secret
The poem tells us its secret near the end: “Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised” (verse 30).
Her strength does not come from never failing or never being tired. It comes from her reverence for God. That is good news if you are in a season where you feel you are falling short. The strength in this verse is something God clothes you with, not something you have to sew together by yourself.
For this week
- Read Proverbs 31:10–31 and Ruth 3. Notice how much they have in common.
- Each morning as you get dressed, pray: “Lord, clothe me with strength and honour today.”
- Write down one fear about the future, then write verse 25 underneath it.
- Tell a woman in your life one way you see God’s strength in her.
A prayer
Lord, thank You that my worth is not measured by how much I get done. Clothe me today with strength and honour. Where I am anxious about the days to come, teach me to rejoice, because my future is in Your hands. Make me a woman who fears You. Amen.
Wear the verse
Proverbs 31:25 is printed on our fitted Clothed in Strength women’s tee, the Strength & Honour t-shirt and the Strength & Honour hoodie.
Read next: They That Wait Upon the LORD: Isaiah 40:31
