Proverbs 24
1 Be not thou envious of wicked men, neither crave to be with them;
Do not envy evil people; do not desire to associate with them,
2 For, violence, their heart muttereth, and, mischief, their lips do speak.
because they are [constantly] thinking about acting violently, and whenever they speak [MTY], they talk about (causing trouble/hurting someone).
3 In wisdom, is a house builded, and, in understanding, is it 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, in knowledge, chambers are filled, with all acquisitions, costly and fair.
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 mighty, and, a man of knowledge, becometh alert in vigour.
Being wise is better than being strong/powerful; those who know [many things can accomplish more] than those who are [very] strong.
6 Surely, with concerted measures, shalt thou make for thyself war, and, success, lieth in the greatness of the counsellor.
Leaders can fight battles if they have wise advisors, and they win those battles if they have many good advisors.
7 Unattainable to a foolish man, are the dictates of wisdom, in the gate, he openeth not his mouth.
Foolish people cannot understand wise sayings/talk; at public meetings they are not [able to] say anything [that is useful].
8 He that deviseth to do mischief, him, shall men call, a master of plots.
Those who are [always] planning to do evil things will be called troublemakers.
9 The purpose of folly, is sin, and, an abomination to mankind, is a buffoon.
It is sinful to plan to do foolish things, and people hate those who make fun of [everything that is good].
10 Thou hast been slothful in the day of straitness, Strait, is thy strength.
If you [act as though] you are helpless when you have troubles, you are [truly very] weak.
11 Deliver thou such as are being led forth to death, and, them who are tottering to slaughter, oh that thou wouldst hold back!
[If it is unjustly decided] that someone must be executed, [try hard to] rescue them [DOU].
12 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?
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 thou honey, because it is good, —and droppings from the comb [because they are] sweet to thy palate:
My child/son, eat honey, because it is good [for you]; the honey that drips from honeycombs tastes [very] sweet.
14 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.
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 lie in wait, thou lawless man, against the home of the righteous, —neither destroy thou his place of rest;
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, seven times, may the righteous fall and yet arise, but, lawless men, shall stumble into calamity.
[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 When thine enemy falleth, do not thou rejoice, and, when he stumbleth, let not thy heart exult:
Do not be happy when something bad happens to one of your enemies; do not rejoice when he stumbles and falls,
18 Lest Yahweh see it, and it be wicked in his eyes, and he turn away from him his anger.
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 Burn not with vexation against evil doers, be not envious of lawless men;
Do not become angry/upset about those who do what is evil, and do not [SYN] envy them,
20 For there shall be no future for the wicked, The lamp of the lawless, shall go out.
because [nothing good] will happen to wicked people; they are [like] a lamp that will soon be extinguished [MET].
21 Revere thou Yahweh, my son, and the king, and, with the fickle, have thou no fellowship;
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, suddenly, shall arise their calamity; and, the misfortune of their years, who knoweth?
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 things also, concern the wise, To take note of faces in judgment, is not good.
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 lawless man, Righteous, thou art, peoples shall denounce him, populations shall curse 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 reprovers, one should be pleasant, and, upon them, should come an excellent blessing:
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 Lips, should one kiss with one who answereth in right words.
Those who answer others honestly show that they are truly their friends [IDM].
27 Prepare, in the open, thy work, and make ready, in the field, for thyself, Afterwards, shalt thou build thy 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 become a needless witness against thy neighbour, so mightest thou open too wide thy 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—According to what he hath done to me, so, will I do to him, I will repay every one 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 By the field of the sluggard, I passed, and by the vineyard of a man lacking sense;
One day I walked by the vineyards of a lazy man, a man who did not have good sense.
31 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.
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 So I observed it, for myself, I applied my heart, I looked—I accepted correction:
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 rest:
[If you spend a lot of time] sleeping and napping and folding your hands while you rest,
34 So shall come in, as a highwayman, thy poverty, and, thy want, as one armed with a shield.
[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].
