Proverbs 24
1 Do not envy evil people; do not desire to associate with them,
Do not envy wicked men or desire their company;
2 because they are [constantly] thinking about acting violently, and whenever they speak [MTY], they talk about (causing trouble/hurting someone).
for their hearts devise violence, and their lips declare trouble.
3 People make good houses (OR, families) by doing what is wise, and they make their houses (OR, families) strong by [heeding] good advice.
By wisdom a house is built and by understanding it is established;
4 By using good sense, [they are able to buy] valuable and beautiful things and put them in the rooms of their houses.
through knowledge its rooms are filled with every precious and beautiful treasure.
5 Being wise is better than being strong/powerful; those who know [many things can accomplish more] than those who are [very] strong.
A wise man is strong, and a man of knowledge enhances his strength.
6 Leaders can fight battles if they have wise advisors, and they win those battles if they have many good advisors.
Only with sound guidance should you wage war, and victory lies in a multitude of counselors.
7 Foolish people cannot understand wise sayings/talk; at public meetings they are not [able to] say anything [that is useful].
Wisdom is too high for a fool; he does not open his mouth in the meeting place.
8 Those who are [always] planning to do evil things will be called troublemakers.
He who plots evil will be called a schemer.
9 It is sinful to plan to do foolish things, and people hate those who make fun of [everything that is good].
A foolish scheme is sin, and a mocker is detestable to men.
10 If you [act as though] you are helpless when you have troubles, you are [truly very] weak.
If you faint in the day of distress, how small is your strength!
11 [If it is unjustly decided] that someone must be executed, [try hard to] rescue them [DOU].
Rescue those being led away to death, and restrain those stumbling toward the slaughter.
12 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.
If you say, “Behold, we did not know about this,” does not He who weighs hearts consider it? Does not the One who guards your life know? Will He not repay a man according to his deeds?
13 My child/son, eat honey, because it is good [for you]; the honey that drips from honeycombs tastes [very] sweet.
Eat honey, my son, for it is good, and the honeycomb is sweet to your taste.
14 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].
Know therefore that wisdom is sweet to your soul. If you find it, there is a future for you, and your hope will never be cut off.
15 Do not be like wicked people who [hide and] wait to break into the houses of righteous/good [people] and rob/steal things.
Do not lie in wait, O wicked man, near the dwelling of the righteous; do not destroy his resting place.
16 [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.
For though a righteous man may fall seven times, he still gets up; but the wicked stumble in bad times.
17 Do not be happy when something bad happens to one of your enemies; do not rejoice when he stumbles and falls,
Do not gloat when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart rejoice when he stumbles,
18 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.
or the LORD will see and disapprove, and turn His wrath away from him.
19 Do not become angry/upset about those who do what is evil, and do not [SYN] envy them,
Do not fret over evildoers, and do not be envious of the wicked.
20 because [nothing good] will happen to wicked people; they are [like] a lamp that will soon be extinguished [MET].
For the evil man has no future; the lamp of the wicked will be extinguished.
21 My child/son, revere Yahweh and [also] honor the king, and do not associate with people who want to rebel against either of them,
My son, fear the LORD and the king, and do not associate with the rebellious.
22 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.
For they will bring sudden destruction. Who knows what ruin they can bring?
23 Here are more things that wise [people] have said: It is wrong for judges to decide matters unfairly [IDM].
These also are sayings of the wise: To show partiality in judgment is not good.
24 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,
Whoever tells the guilty, “You are innocent”— peoples will curse him, and nations will denounce him;
25 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).
but it will go well with those who convict the guilty, and rich blessing will come upon them.
26 Those who answer others honestly show that they are truly their friends [IDM].
An honest answer given is like a kiss on the lips.
27 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.
Complete your outdoor work and prepare your field; after that, you may build your house.
28 [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].
Do not testify against your neighbor without cause, and do not deceive with your lips.
29 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.”
Do not say, “I will do to him as he has done to me; I will repay the man according to his work.”
30 One day I walked by the vineyards of a lazy man, a man who did not have good sense.
I went past the field of a slacker and by the vineyard of a man lacking judgment.
31 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).
Thorns had grown up everywhere, thistles had covered the ground, and the stone wall was broken down.
32 When I saw that, I thought about it, and I learned this:
I observed and took it to heart; I looked and received instruction:
33 [If you spend a lot of time] sleeping and napping and folding your hands while you rest,
A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest,
34 [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].
and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and need like a bandit.
