Proverbs 24
1 Be not thou enuious against euill men, neither desire to be with them.
Do not envy evil people; do not desire to associate with them,
2 For their heart imagineth destruction, and their lippes speake mischiefe.
because they are [constantly] thinking about acting violently, and whenever they speak [MTY], they talk about (causing trouble/hurting someone).
3 Through wisdome is an house builded, and with vnderstanding it is established.
People make good houses (OR, families) by doing what is wise, and they make their houses (OR, families) strong by [heeding] good advice.
4 And by knowledge shall the chambers bee filled with all precious, and pleasant riches.
By using good sense, [they are able to buy] valuable and beautiful things and put them in the rooms of their houses.
5 A wise man is strong: for a man of vnderstanding encreaseth his strength.
Being wise is better than being strong/powerful; those who know [many things can accomplish more] than those who are [very] strong.
6 For with counsel thou shalt enterprise thy warre, and in the multitude of them that can giue counsell, is health.
Leaders can fight battles if they have wise advisors, and they win those battles if they have many good advisors.
7 Wisdome is hie to a foole: therefore he can not open his mouth in the gate.
Foolish people cannot understand wise sayings/talk; at public meetings they are not [able to] say anything [that is useful].
8 Hee that imagineth to doe euill, men shall call him an autour of wickednes.
Those who are [always] planning to do evil things will be called troublemakers.
9 The wicked thought of a foole is sinne, and the scorner is an abomination vnto men.
It is sinful to plan to do foolish things, and people hate those who make fun of [everything that is good].
10 If thou bee faint in the day of aduersitie, thy strength is small.
If you [act as though] you are helpless when you have troubles, you are [truly very] weak.
11 Deliuer them that are drawen to death: wilt thou not preserue them that are led to be slaine?
[If it is unjustly decided] that someone must be executed, [try hard to] rescue them [DOU].
12 If thou say, Beholde, we knew not of it: he that pondereth the heartes, doeth not hee vnderstand it? and hee that keepeth thy soule, knoweth he it not? will not he also recompense euery man according to his workes?
If you say, “I did not know anything about it, [so (it is not my concern/I did not try to help him)],” remember that God knows what we have done, and he knows what we were thinking [IDM, RHQ], and he will certainly [RHQ] repay us as we deserve for what we have done or for not doing what we should have done.
13 My sonne, eate hony, for it is good, and the hony combe, for it is sweete vnto thy mouth.
My child/son, eat honey, because it is good [for you]; the honey that drips from honeycombs tastes [very] sweet.
14 So shall the knowledge of wisdome be vnto thy soule, if thou finde it, and there shall be an ende, and thine hope shall not be cut off.
Similarly, being wise is good for your soul; if you become wise, you will be [happy in] the future, and [God] will certainly [do for you what you are] confidently expecting him to do [LIT].
15 Laye no waite, O wicked man, against the house of the righteous, and spoyle not his resting place.
Do not be like wicked people who [hide and] wait to break into the houses of righteous/good [people] and rob/steal things.
16 For a iust man falleth seuen times, and riseth againe: but the wicked fall into mischiefe.
[Even if] good people fall down seven/many times, they [always] stand/get up again, but when a disaster happens to wicked [people], it ruins/destroys them.
17 Bee thou not glad when thine enemie falleth, and let not thine heart reioyce when hee stumbleth,
Do not be happy when something bad happens to one of your enemies; do not rejoice when he stumbles and falls,
18 Least the Lord see it, and it displease him, and he turne his wrath from him.
because Yahweh will know what you are thinking, and he will not like it, and [as a result] he will not punish that enemy of yours.
19 Fret not thy selfe because of the malicious, neither be enuious at the wicked.
Do not become angry/upset about those who do what is evil, and do not [SYN] envy them,
20 For there shall bee none ende of plagues to the euill man: the light of the wicked shall bee put out.
because [nothing good] will happen to wicked people; they are [like] a lamp that will soon be extinguished [MET].
21 My sonne feare the Lord, and the King, and meddle not with them that are sedicious.
My child/son, revere Yahweh and [also] honor the king, and do not associate with people who want to rebel against either of them,
22 For their destruction shall rise suddenly, and who knoweth the ruine of them both?
because those people will suddenly experience disasters; and no one knows [RHQ] what great disasters that God or the king can cause to happen to them.
23 ALSO THESE THINGS PERTEINE TO THE WISE, It is not good to haue respect of any person in iudgement.
Here are more things that wise [people] have said: It is wrong for judges to decide matters unfairly [IDM].
24 He that saith to the wicked, Thou art righteous, him shall the people curse, and the multitude shall abhorre him.
If they say to people who are guilty, “You (are innocent/have not done something that is wrong),” [even] people in other nations will curse and despise them,
25 But to them that rebuke him, shall be pleasure, and vpon them shall come the blessing of goodnesse.
but if judges say that guilty people must be punished, things will go well for those judges, and (they will receive blessings/God will bless them).
26 They shall kisse the lippes of him that answereth vpright wordes.
Those who answer others honestly show that they are truly their friends [IDM].
27 Prepare thy worke without, and make readie thy thinges in the fielde, and after, builde thine house.
First, do the work [that needs to be done] outside [your house], and prepare your fields, [and then plant things], and after you finish doing that, build your house.
28 Be not a witnes against thy neighbour without cause: for wilt thou deceiue with thy lippes?
[In the courtroom] do not testify against someone when you have no reason to do that, and do not [try to] deceive [people] by what you say [MTY].
29 Say not, I wil doe to him, as he hath done to mee, I will recompence euery man according to his worke.
Do not say, “I will do to him what he did to me; I will pay him back for [the bad things that] he did to me.”
30 I passed by the fielde of the slouthfull, and by the vineyarde of the man destitute of vnderstanding.
One day I walked by the vineyards of a lazy man, a man who did not have good sense.
31 And lo, it was al growen ouer with thornes, and nettles had couered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken downe.
I was surprised to see that the fields were full of all kinds of thorny bushes, and the stone wall [around the garden] had (collapsed/fallen down).
32 Then I behelde, and I considered it well: I looked vpon it, and receiued instruction.
When I saw that, I thought about it, and I learned this:
33 Yet a litle sleepe, a litle slumber, a litle folding of the handes to sleepe.
[If you spend a lot of time] sleeping and napping and folding your hands while you rest,
34 So thy pouertie commeth as one that traueileth by the way, and thy necessitie like an armed man.
[soon] you will become poor; [it will be as though] [PRS, SIM] a bandit who had a weapon in his hand [attacked you and stole all that you had].
