Proverbs 31:25

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Strength and honor are her clothing; She shall rejoice in time to come.

Proverbs 31:25 (NKJV)

She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.

Proverbs 31:25 (NIV)

Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.

Proverbs 31:25 (KJV)

She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.

Proverbs 31:25 (NLT)

Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come.

Proverbs 31:25 (ESV)

Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she smiles at the future.

Proverbs 31:25 (NASB)

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

Strength and dignity are her clothing and her position is strong and secure; she smiles at the future [knowing that she and her family are prepared].

Proverbs 31:25 (AMP)

Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMP), Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

Strength and dignity are her clothing and her position is strong and secure; she rejoices over the future [the latter day or time to come, knowing that she and her family are in readiness for it]!

Proverbs 31:25 (AMPC)

Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMPC), Copyright © 1954, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

She's dressed in strength and elegance, and face the future with a smile.

Proverbs 31:25 (MSG)

Scripture quotations from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.

New Covenant Meaning

Clothed in What Cannot Be Taken: Identity That Holds

Proverbs 31:25 describes the Valiant Woman's clothing not as physical garments but as qualities of character: oz (strength) and hadar (honor, dignity, splendor). What she wears is not vulnerable to loss, theft, or circumstance. The metaphor of clothing indicates that these qualities are visible, that they wrap around her and define how she appears in the world. In the New Covenant, Colossians 3:12 uses the same clothing metaphor: "put on as chosen people, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience." What you are clothed in by God cannot be stripped from you by difficulty. Strength and honor are not earned through performance in Proverbs 31:25. They are what she is described as wearing. They are already on her.

She Laughs at the Future

The Hebrew tishchak le-yom acharon means she laughs at the latter day, at what is coming. This is not recklessness or denial. It is the confidence of someone who is not afraid of what tomorrow holds because they know who holds tomorrow. The same quality appears in the believer who has cast their anxiety on God (1 Peter 5:7) and who does not worry about tomorrow because today's grace is sufficient (Matthew 6:34). The laughter of Proverbs 31:25 is the sound of someone who is genuinely free from fear about the future. Not because the future holds no difficulty, but because she is clothed in strength and honor that the future cannot touch.

Proverbs 31:10-31 is an acrostic poem (each verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet), which is itself a literary signal that this is a complete portrait, covering everything from A to Z. Verse 25 is the characterological center of the poem: it describes not what she does but who she is. Before verse 26 (she speaks wisdom), before verse 27 (she watches over her household), before verse 28 (her children rise and call her blessed), there is verse 25: she is clothed with strength and dignity. The portrait is built on identity, not activity. The Woman of Valor is not defined by her output. She is defined by what she wears, and what she wears is indestructible.

Application for Your Life

You Are Already Clothed in Strength and Honor

Proverbs 31:25 is often quoted as an aspiration, something a woman should work toward becoming. But the verse does not say she is trying to put on strength and honor. It says they are her clothing. In Christ, the same is true of you. Romans 13:14 says "put on the Lord Jesus Christ." When you are in Him, you are clothed in His righteousness, His strength, His honor. The question is not whether you have these things. The question is whether you know you have them. The Woman of Valor is not anxious about the future because she knows what she is wearing. You can laugh at the days to come for the same reason.

The Future Is Not Your Enemy

The woman of Proverbs 31:25 laughs at the future. Not because she is naive about its difficulties, but because her identity is not threatened by them. If your sense of who you are is tied to your circumstances staying favorable, the future will always be a source of anxiety. But if your identity is in Christ, settled and secured by His finished work, then the future holds no threat that changes who you are. You are still clothed in strength and honor on your worst day. That is the ground of the laughter. Not the favorable forecast. The unchanging clothing.

Prayer Based on This Verse

Father, I receive the truth of what You have clothed me in. Strength and honor are my clothing. Not because I earned them today, but because You placed them on me in Christ. I am not afraid of tomorrow. I can face what is coming because who I am does not depend on what is coming. I am clothed in what cannot be taken. I laugh at the future because You hold it, and You hold me. In Jesus name. Amen.