Proverbs 24
1 Do not be envious of evil men, And do not desire to be with them.
Be not thou envious of wicked men, neither crave to be with them;
2 For their heart meditates [on] destruction, And their lips speak perverseness.
For, violence, their heart muttereth, and, mischief, their lips do speak.
3 A house is built by wisdom, And it establishes itself by understanding.
In wisdom, is a house builded, and, in understanding, is it established;
4 And the inner parts are filled by knowledge, [With] all precious and pleasant wealth.
And, in knowledge, chambers are filled, with all acquisitions, costly and fair.
5 The wise [is] mighty in strength, And a man of knowledge is strengthening power,
A wise man, is mighty, and, a man of knowledge, becometh alert in vigour.
6 For you make war for yourself by plans, And deliverance [is] in a multitude of counselors.
Surely, with concerted measures, shalt thou make for thyself war, and, success, lieth in the greatness of the counsellor.
7 Wisdom [is] high for a fool, he does not open his mouth in the gate.
Unattainable to a foolish man, are the dictates of wisdom, in the gate, he openeth not his mouth.
8 Whoever is devising to do evil, They call him a master of wicked thoughts.
He that deviseth to do mischief, him, shall men call, a master of plots.
9 The thought of folly [is] sin, And a scorner [is] an abomination to man.
The purpose of folly, is sin, and, an abomination to mankind, is a buffoon.
10 You have showed yourself weak in a day of adversity, Your power is restricted,
Thou hast been slothful in the day of straitness, Strait, is thy strength.
11 If [from] delivering those taken to death, And you take back those slipping to the slaughter.
Deliver thou such as are being led forth to death, and, them who are tottering to slaughter, oh that thou wouldst hold back!
12 When you say, “Behold, we did not know this.” Is the Ponderer of hearts not He who understands? And the Keeper of your soul He who knows? And He has rendered to man according to his work.
Though thou say, Lo! we knew not this, Shall not, he that proveth hearts, himself, discern? And, he that formeth thy soul, himself, know? and bring back to a son of earth according to his deed?
13 My son, eat honey that [is] good, And the honeycomb [is] sweet to your palate.
My son, eat thou honey, because it is good, —and droppings from the comb [because they are] sweet to thy palate:
14 So [is] the knowledge of wisdom to your soul, If you have found that there is a posterity And your hope is not cut off.
Thus, take knowledge of wisdom, for thine own soul; If thou find it, then there is a future, and, thine expectation, shall not be cut off.
15 Do not lay wait, O wicked one, At the habitation of the righteous. Do not spoil his resting place.
Do not lie in wait, thou lawless man, against the home of the righteous, —neither destroy thou his place of rest;
16 For the righteous fall and rise seven [times], And the wicked stumble in evil.
For, seven times, may the righteous fall and yet arise, but, lawless men, shall stumble into calamity.
17 Do not rejoice in the falling of your enemy, And do not let your heart be joyful in his stumbling,
When thine enemy falleth, do not thou rejoice, and, when he stumbleth, let not thy heart exult:
18 Lest YHWH see, and [it be] evil in His eyes, And He has turned His anger from off him.
Lest Yahweh see it, and it be wicked in his eyes, and he turn away from him his anger.
19 Do not fret yourself at evildoers, do not be envious at the wicked,
Burn not with vexation against evil doers, be not envious of lawless men;
20 For there is not a posterity to the evil, The lamp of the wicked is extinguished.
For there shall be no future for the wicked, The lamp of the lawless, shall go out.
21 Fear YHWH, my son, and the king, Do not mix yourself up with changers,
Revere thou Yahweh, my son, and the king, and, with the fickle, have thou no fellowship;
22 For their calamity rises suddenly, And the ruin of them both—who knows!
For, suddenly, shall arise their calamity; and, the misfortune of their years, who knoweth?
23 These are also for the wise: [It] is not good to discern faces in judgment.
These things also, concern the wise, To take note of faces in judgment, is not good.
24 Whoever is saying to the wicked, “You [are] righteous,” Peoples execrate him—nations abhor him.
He that saith to the lawless man, Righteous, thou art, peoples shall denounce him, populations shall curse him;
25 And it is pleasant to those reproving, And a good blessing comes on them.
But, to reprovers, one should be pleasant, and, upon them, should come an excellent blessing:
26 He who is returning straightforward words kisses lips.
Lips, should one kiss with one who answereth in right words.
27 Prepare your work in an out-place, And make it ready in the field—go afterward, Then you have built your house.
Prepare, in the open, thy work, and make ready, in the field, for thyself, Afterwards, shalt thou build thy house.
28 Do not be a witness against your neighbor for nothing, Or you have enticed with your lips.
Do not become a needless witness against thy neighbour, so mightest thou open too wide thy lips:
29 Do not say, “As he did to me, so I do to him, I render to each according to his work.”
Do not say—According to what he hath done to me, so, will I do to him, I will repay every one according to his work.
30 I passed by near the field of a slothful man, And near the vineyard of a man lacking heart.
By the field of the sluggard, I passed, and by the vineyard of a man lacking sense;
31 And behold, it has gone up—all of it—thorns! Nettles have covered its face, And its stone wall has been broken down.
And lo! there had come up all over it—thorns, there had covered the face thereof—thistles, and, the stone fence thereof, had been thrown down.
32 And I see—I set my heart, I have seen—I have received instruction,
So I observed it, for myself, I applied my heart, I looked—I accepted correction:
33 A little sleep—a little slumber—A little folding of the hands to lie down.
A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest:
34 And your poverty has come [as] a traveler, And your want as an armed man!
So shall come in, as a highwayman, thy poverty, and, thy want, as one armed with a shield.
