I am She – Day 5

₂₄The best thing anyone can do is to eat and drink and enjoy what he has earned. And yet, I realized that even this comes from God. ₂₅How else could you have anything to eat or enjoy yourself at all?

₁₅Then the king of Egypt spoke to Shiphrah and Puah, the two midwives who helped the Hebrew women. ₁₆“When you help the Hebrew women give birth,” he said to them, “kill the baby if it is a boy; but if it is a girl, let it live.” ₁₇But the midwives feared God and so did not obey the king; instead, they let the boys live.

₁Everything that happens in this world happens at the time God chooses.

₁₃On the Sabbath we went out of the city to the riverside, where we thought there would be a place where Jews gathered for prayer. We sat down and talked to the women who gathered there. ₁₄One of those who heard us was Lydia from Thyatira, who was a dealer in purple cloth. She was a woman who worshipped God, and the Lord opened her mind to pay attention to what Paul was saying. ₁₅After she and the people of her house had been baptized, she invited us, “Come and stay in my house if you have decided that I am a true believer in the Lord.” And she persuaded us to go.

₁₀How hard it is to find a capable wife! She is worth far more than jewels!

₁₁Her husband puts his confidence in her, and he will never be poor.

₁₂As long as she lives, she does him good and never harm.

₁₃She keeps herself busy making wool and linen cloth.

₁₄She brings home food from out-of-the-way places, as merchant ships do.

₁₅She gets up before daylight to prepare food for her family and to tell her servant women what to do.

₁₆She looks at land and buys it, and with money she has earned she plants a vineyard.

₁₇She is a hard worker, strong and industrious.

₁₈She knows the value of everything she makes, and works late into the night.

₁₉She spins her own thread and weaves her own cloth.

₂₀She is generous to the poor and needy.

₂₁She doesn't worry when it snows, because her family has warm clothing.

₂₂She makes bedspreads and wears clothes of fine purple linen.

₂₃Her husband is well known, one of the leading citizens.

₂₄She makes clothes and belts, and sells them to merchants.

₂₅She is strong and respected and not afraid of the future.

₂₆She speaks with a gentle wisdom.

₂₇She is always busy and looks after her family's needs.

₂₈Her children show their appreciation, and her husband praises her.

₂₉He says, “Many women are good wives, but you are the best of them all.”

₃₀Charm is deceptive and beauty disappears, but a woman who honours the LORD should be praised.

₃₁Give her credit for all she does. She deserves the respect of everyone.