---
title: "Proverbs 31 – Catholic Bible (CPDV) & Latin Vulgate · Bless"
url: https://blessbible.app/bible/proverbs/31/
description: "An exhortation to chastity, temperance, and works of mercy; with the praise of… Proverbs 31 in the Catholic Public Domain Version, with the Latin Vulgate."
---

# Proverbs 31

Proverbs 31 is chapter 31 of 31 in the Book of Proverbs. Here are all 31 verses in the Catholic Public Domain Version, with the Latin of the Clementine Vulgate beside them.

> An exhortation to chastity, temperance, and works of mercy; with the praise of a wise woman.
>
> — Bp. Richard Challoner, chapter summary

## Proverbs 31 (Catholic Public Domain Version)

1. The words of king Lamuel. The vision by which his mother instructed him:
2. “What, O my beloved? What, O beloved of my womb? What, O beloved of my vows?
3. Do not give your substance to women, or your riches to overthrow kings.
4. Not to kings, O Lamuel, not to kings give wine. For there are no secrets where drunkenness reigns.
5. And perhaps they may drink and forget judgments, and alter the case of the sons of the poor.
6. Give strong drink to the grieving, and wine to those who are bitter in soul.
7. Let them drink, and forget their needs, and remember their sorrow no more.
8. Open your mouth for the mute and for all the cases of the sons who are passing through.
9. Open your mouth, declare what is just, and do justice to the indigent and the poor.
10. Who shall find a strong woman? Far away, and from the furthest parts, is her price.
11. The heart of her husband confides in her, and he will not be deprived of spoils.
12. She will repay him with good, and not evil, all the days of her life.
13. She has sought wool and flax, and she has worked these by the counsel of her hands.
14. She has become like a merchant’s ship, bringing her bread from far away.
15. And she has risen in the night, and given a prey to her household, and provisions to her maids.
16. She has considered a field and bought it. From the fruit of her own hands, she has planted a vineyard.
17. She has wrapped her waist with fortitude, and she has strengthened her arm.
18. She has tasted and seen that her tasks are good; her lamp shall not be extinguished at night.
19. She has put her hand to strong things, and her fingers have taken hold of the spindle.
20. She has opened her hand to the needy, and she has extended her hands to the poor.
21. She shall not fear, in the cold of snow, for her household. For all those of her household have been clothed two-fold.
22. She has made embroidered clothing for herself. Fine linen and purple is her garment.
23. Her husband is noble at the gates, when he sits among the senators of the land.
24. She has made finely woven cloth and sold it, and she has delivered a waistband to the Canaanite.
25. Strength and elegance are her clothing, and she will laugh in the final days.
26. She has opened her mouth to wisdom, and the law of clemency is on her tongue.
27. She has considered the paths of her household, and she has not eaten her bread in idleness.
28. Her sons rose up and predicted great happiness; her husband rose up and praised her.
29. Many daughters have gathered together riches; you have surpassed them all.
30. Charm is false, and beauty is vain. The woman who fears the Lord, the same shall be praised.
31. Give to her from the fruit of her own hands. And let her works praise her at the gates.

## Proverbs 31 in Latin (Clementine Vulgate, 1592)

1. Verba Lamuelis regis. Visio qua erudivit eum mater sua.
2. Quid, dilecte mi? quid, dilecte uteri mei? quid, dilecte votorum meorum?
3. Ne dederis mulieribus substantiam tuam, et divitias tuas ad delendos reges.
4. Noli regibus, o Lamuel, noli regibus dare vinum, quia nullum secretum est ubi regnat ebrietas;
5. et ne forte bibant, et obliviscantur judiciorum, et mutent causam filiorum pauperis.
6. Date siceram mœrentibus, et vinum his qui amaro sunt animo.
7. Bibant, et obliviscantur egestatis suæ, et doloris sui non recordentur amplius.
8. Aperi os tuum muto, et causis omnium filiorum qui pertranseunt.
9. Aperi os tuum, decerne quod justum est, et judica inopem et pauperem.
10. Mulierem fortem quis inveniet? procul et de ultimis finibus pretium ejus.
11. Confidit in ea cor viri sui, et spoliis non indigebit.
12. Reddet ei bonum, et non malum, omnibus diebus vitæ suæ.
13. Quæsivit lanam et linum, et operata est consilia manuum suarum.
14. Facta est quasi navis institoris, de longe portans panem suum.
15. Et de nocte surrexit, deditque prædam domesticis suis, et cibaria ancillis suis.
16. Consideravit agrum, et emit eum; de fructu manuum suarum plantavit vineam.
17. Accinxit fortitudine lumbos suos, et roboravit brachium suum.
18. Gustavit, et vidit quia bona est negotiatio ejus; non extinguetur in nocte lucerna ejus.
19. Manum suam misit ad fortia, et digiti ejus apprehenderunt fusum.
20. Manum suam aperuit inopi, et palmas suas extendit ad pauperem.
21. Non timebit domui suæ a frigoribus nivis; omnes enim domestici ejus vestiti sunt duplicibus.
22. Stragulatam vestem fecit sibi; byssus et purpura indumentum ejus.
23. Nobilis in portis vir ejus, quando sederit cum senatoribus terræ.
24. Sindonem fecit, et vendidit, et cingulum tradidit Chananæo.
25. Fortitudo et decor indumentum ejus, et ridebit in die novissimo.
26. Os suum aperuit sapientiæ, et lex clementiæ in lingua ejus.
27. Consideravit semitas domus suæ, et panem otiosa non comedit.
28. Surrexerunt filii ejus, et beatissimam prædicaverunt; vir ejus, et laudavit eam.
29. Multæ filiæ congregaverunt divitias; tu supergressa es universas.
30. Fallax gratia, et vana est pulchritudo: mulier timens Dominum, ipsa laudabitur.
31. Date ei de fructu manuum suarum, et laudent eam in portis opera ejus.

## Bishop Challoner's notes

Bp. Richard Challoner, notes on the Douay-Rheims (1750); they comment on its older wording.
- Verse 1: “Lamuel” … This name signifies God with him, and is supposed to have been one of the names of Solomon.
- Verse 24: The merchant, for Chanaanite, in Hebrew, signifies a merchant.

## Read at Mass (US)

- Sun, Nov 15, 2026: Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time — First Reading, Proverbs 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31

Citations as published in the USCCB liturgical calendar (principal Mass, first option).

Source: Catholic Public Domain Version (Ronald L. Conte Jr., 2009), public domain; Latin: Clementine Vulgate (1592).