Proverbs 24
1 Do not be envious of evil men, And do not desire to be with them.
Do not envy evil people; do not desire to associate with them,
2 For their heart meditates [on] destruction, And their lips speak perverseness.
because they are [constantly] thinking about acting violently, and whenever they speak [MTY], they talk about (causing trouble/hurting someone).
3 A house is built by wisdom, And it establishes itself by understanding.
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 the inner parts are filled by knowledge, [With] all precious and pleasant wealth.
By using good sense, [they are able to buy] valuable and beautiful things and put them in the rooms of their houses.
5 The wise [is] mighty in strength, And a man of knowledge is strengthening power,
Being wise is better than being strong/powerful; those who know [many things can accomplish more] than those who are [very] strong.
6 For you make war for yourself by plans, And deliverance [is] in a multitude of counselors.
Leaders can fight battles if they have wise advisors, and they win those battles if they have many good advisors.
7 Wisdom [is] high for a fool, he does 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 Whoever is devising to do evil, They call him a master of wicked thoughts.
Those who are [always] planning to do evil things will be called troublemakers.
9 The thought of folly [is] sin, And a scorner [is] an abomination to man.
It is sinful to plan to do foolish things, and people hate those who make fun of [everything that is good].
10 You have showed yourself weak in a day of adversity, Your power is restricted,
If you [act as though] you are helpless when you have troubles, you are [truly very] weak.
11 If [from] delivering those taken to death, And you take back those slipping to the slaughter.
[If it is unjustly decided] that someone must be executed, [try hard to] rescue them [DOU].
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.
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 son, eat honey that [is] good, And the honeycomb [is] sweet to your palate.
My child/son, eat honey, because it is good [for you]; the honey that drips from honeycombs tastes [very] sweet.
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.
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 Do not lay wait, O wicked one, At the habitation of the righteous. Do not spoil 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 the righteous fall and rise seven [times], And the wicked stumble in evil.
[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 Do not rejoice in the falling of your enemy, And do not let your heart be joyful in his stumbling,
Do not be happy when something bad happens to one of your enemies; do not rejoice when he stumbles and falls,
18 Lest YHWH see, and [it be] evil in His eyes, And He has turned His anger from off 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 Do not fret yourself at evildoers, do not be envious at the wicked,
Do not become angry/upset about those who do what is evil, and do not [SYN] envy them,
20 For there is not a posterity to the evil, The lamp of the wicked is extinguished.
because [nothing good] will happen to wicked people; they are [like] a lamp that will soon be extinguished [MET].
21 Fear YHWH, my son, and the king, Do not mix yourself up with changers,
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 calamity rises suddenly, And the ruin of them both—who knows!
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 These are also for the wise: [It] is not good to discern faces in judgment.
Here are more things that wise [people] have said: It is wrong for judges to decide matters unfairly [IDM].
24 Whoever is saying to the wicked, “You [are] righteous,” Peoples execrate him—nations abhor 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 And it is pleasant to those reproving, And a good blessing comes on them.
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 He who is returning straightforward words kisses lips.
Those who answer others honestly show that they are truly their friends [IDM].
27 Prepare your work in an out-place, And make it ready in the field—go afterward, Then you have built your 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 Do not be a witness against your neighbor for nothing, Or you have enticed with your lips.
[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 Do not say, “As he did to me, so I do to him, I render to each according to his work.”
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 near the field of a slothful man, And near the vineyard of a man lacking heart.
One day I walked by the vineyards of a lazy man, a man who did not have good 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.
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 And I see—I set my heart, I have seen—I have received instruction,
When I saw that, I thought about it, and I learned this:
33 A little sleep—a little slumber—A little folding of the hands to lie down.
[If you spend a lot of time] sleeping and napping and folding your hands while you rest,
34 And your poverty has come [as] a traveler, And your want as 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].
