Proverbs 24
1 Don't be jealous of evil people; don't long to spend time with them,
υἱέ μὴ ζηλώσῃς κακοὺς ἄνδρας μηδὲ ἐπιθυμήσῃς εἶναι μετ’ αὐτῶν
2 for they think up cruel plans and discuss how to cause trouble.
ψεύδη γὰρ μελετᾷ ἡ καρδία αὐτῶν καὶ πόνους τὰ χείλη αὐτῶν λαλεῖ
3 A house is built by wisdom; its foundation is made secure through understanding.
μετὰ σοφίας οἰκοδομεῖται οἶκος καὶ μετὰ συνέσεως ἀνορθοῦται
4 Its rooms are filled by knowledge with all kinds of valuable and beautiful objects.
μετὰ αἰσθήσεως ἐμπίμπλαται ταμίεια ἐκ παντὸς πλούτου τιμίου καὶ καλοῦ
5 If you have wisdom, you are strong; if you have knowledge, your power increases,
κρείσσων σοφὸς ἰσχυροῦ καὶ ἀνὴρ φρόνησιν ἔχων γεωργίου μεγάλου
6 for with wise guidance you can go to war; you will be victorious by having many good advisors.
μετὰ κυβερνήσεως γίνεται πόλεμος βοήθεια δὲ μετὰ καρδίας βουλευτικῆς
7 Wisdom goes over the heads of stupid people; they have nothing to contribute when important matters are discussed.
σοφία καὶ ἔννοια ἀγαθὴ ἐν πύλαις σοφῶν σοφοὶ οὐκ ἐκκλίνουσιν ἐκ στόματος κυρίου
8 Anyone who plans to do evil will be seen as a troublemaker.
ἀλλὰ λογίζονται ἐν συνεδρίοις ἀπαιδεύτοις συναντᾷ θάνατος
9 Plans thought up by stupid people are sinful. Everyone hates those who are scornful of others.
ἀποθνῄσκει δὲ ἄφρων ἐν ἁμαρτίαις ἀκαθαρσία δὲ ἀνδρὶ λοιμῷ ἐμμολυνθήσεται
10 If you give up in times of trouble, it shows how weak you are.
ἐν ἡμέρᾳ κακῇ καὶ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ θλίψεως ἕως ἂν ἐκλίπῃ
11 Rescue those who are being led away to be executed; save those who are stumbling on their way to be slaughtered.
ῥῦσαι ἀγομένους εἰς θάνατον καὶ ἐκπρίου κτεινομένους μὴ φείσῃ
12 If you say, “Look, we didn't know anything about this,” don't you think the God who judges your motives will see what's happening? He who watches over you knows, and he will pay people back for what they've done.
ἐὰν δὲ εἴπῃς οὐκ οἶδα τοῦτον γίνωσκε ὅτι κύριος καρδίας πάντων γινώσκει καὶ ὁ πλάσας πνοὴν πᾶσιν αὐτὸς οἶδεν πάντα ὃς ἀποδίδωσιν ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ
13 My son, eating honey is good for you; the honeycomb tastes sweet.
φάγε μέλι υἱέ ἀγαθὸν γὰρ κηρίον ἵνα γλυκανθῇ σου ὁ φάρυγξ
14 In the same way, you should know that wisdom is good for you; if you find it, there will be a future for you, and your hope will not be crushed.
οὕτως αἰσθήσῃ σοφίαν τῇ σῇ ψυχῇ ἐὰν γὰρ εὕρῃς ἔσται καλὴ ἡ τελευτή σου καὶ ἐλπίς σε οὐκ ἐγκαταλείψει
15 Don't be like a criminal waiting to ambush the home of good people; don't attack the place where they live.
μὴ προσαγάγῃς ἀσεβῆ νομῇ δικαίων μηδὲ ἀπατηθῇς χορτασίᾳ κοιλίας
16 Those who do right may fall down seven times, and still get up again; but the wicked are brought down by disaster.
ἑπτάκι γὰρ πεσεῖται ὁ δίκαιος καὶ ἀναστήσεται οἱ δὲ ἀσεβεῖς ἀσθενήσουσιν ἐν κακοῖς
17 Don't celebrate when your enemies fall; don't be glad when they trip up,
ἐὰν πέσῃ ὁ ἐχθρός σου μὴ ἐπιχαρῇς αὐτῷ ἐν δὲ τῷ ὑποσκελίσματι αὐτοῦ μὴ ἐπαίρου
18 otherwise when the Lord sees it, he'll be unhappy with you and won't punish your enemies as he planned.
ὅτι ὄψεται κύριος καὶ οὐκ ἀρέσει αὐτῷ καὶ ἀποστρέψει τὸν θυμὸν αὐτοῦ ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ
19 Don't get all upset over the wicked, or be jealous of those who do wrong,
μὴ χαῖρε ἐπὶ κακοποιοῖς μηδὲ ζήλου ἁμαρτωλούς
20 for evil people have no future—the lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out.
οὐ γὰρ μὴ γένηται ἔκγονα πονηρῶν λαμπτὴρ δὲ ἀσεβῶν σβεσθήσεται
21 My son, honor the Lord and the king, and don't join those who are rebellious,
φοβοῦ τὸν θεόν υἱέ καὶ βασιλέα καὶ μηθετέρῳ αὐτῶν ἀπειθήσῃς
22 for disaster will suddenly fall on them. Who knows how the Lord and king will punish them?
ἐξαίφνης γὰρ τείσονται τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς τὰς δὲ τιμωρίας ἀμφοτέρων τίς γνώσεται
23 These are more sayings of the wise: Showing favoritism when passing judgment is wrong.
ταῦτα δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν τοῖς σοφοῖς ἐπιγινώσκειν αἰδεῖσθαι πρόσωπον ἐν κρίσει οὐ καλόν
24 Those who tell the guilty, “You're innocent,” will be cursed by the people and hated by the nation,
ὁ εἰπὼν τὸν ἀσεβῆ δίκαιός ἐστιν ἐπικατάρατος λαοῖς ἔσται καὶ μισητὸς εἰς ἔθνη
25 while those who convict the guilty will be appreciated, and will receive a rich blessing.
οἱ δὲ ἐλέγχοντες βελτίους φανοῦνται ἐπ’ αὐτοὺς δὲ ἥξει εὐλογία ἀγαθή
26 An honest answer is a kiss on the lips.
χείλη δὲ φιλήσουσιν ἀποκρινόμενα λόγους ἀγαθούς
27 Do the work you need to do outside first, then prepare and sow your fields, and only after that start building your house.
ἑτοίμαζε εἰς τὴν ἔξοδον τὰ ἔργα σου καὶ παρασκευάζου εἰς τὸν ἀγρὸν καὶ πορεύου κατόπισθέν μου καὶ ἀνοικοδομήσεις τὸν οἶκόν σου
28 Don't testify against your neighbors without having a good reason, and don't tell lies.
μὴ ἴσθι ψευδὴς μάρτυς ἐπὶ σὸν πολίτην μηδὲ πλατύνου σοῖς χείλεσιν
29 Don't say to yourself, “I'm going to do to him what he did to me! I'll pay him back for what he's done!”
μὴ εἴπῃς ὃν τρόπον ἐχρήσατό μοι χρήσομαι αὐτῷ τείσομαι δὲ αὐτὸν ἅ με ἠδίκησεν
30 I walked past the field of a lazy man, past a vineyard of someone with no sense.
ὥσπερ γεώργιον ἀνὴρ ἄφρων καὶ ὥσπερ ἀμπελὼν ἄνθρωπος ἐνδεὴς φρενῶν
31 It was all overgrown with thorns, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall had fallen down.
ἐὰν ἀφῇς αὐτόν χερσωθήσεται καὶ χορτομανήσει ὅλος καὶ γίνεται ἐκλελειμμένος οἱ δὲ φραγμοὶ τῶν λίθων αὐτοῦ κατασκάπτονται
32 As I looked I thought about it, and what I saw taught me a lesson:
ὕστερον ἐγὼ μετενόησα ἐπέβλεψα τοῦ ἐκλέξασθαι παιδείαν
33 You may say, “Please, just a little more sleep, a little longer snooze, a little more folding of the arms to rest”—
ὀλίγον νυστάζω ὀλίγον δὲ καθυπνῶ ὀλίγον δὲ ἐναγκαλίζομαι χερσὶν στήθη
34 and poverty will attack you like a robber, destitution like an armed warrior.
ἐὰν δὲ τοῦτο ποιῇς ἥξει προπορευομένη ἡ πενία σου καὶ ἡ ἔνδειά σου ὥσπερ ἀγαθὸς δρομεύς
