31:10–31 This section is an acrostic poem extolling the virtues of a wife who exemplifies the principles of wisdom, both practically and spiritually. The sequence of virtues is governed more by the demands of the acrostic (the first word in each verse beginning with successive letters of the alphabet) than by logic. Yet the overall effect is of a coherent description of a woman beautified by her virtues of practical wisdom and charity. That the household described is well-to-do does not detract from the universal applicability of the principles of wifely wisdom.