Proverbs 24
1 Be not envious of evil men, And desire not to be with them.
Don't be jealous of evil people; don't long to spend time with them,
2 For destruction doth their heart meditate, And perverseness do their lips speak.
for they think up cruel plans and discuss how to cause trouble.
3 By wisdom is a house builded, And by understanding it establisheth itself.
A house is built by wisdom; its foundation is made secure through understanding.
4 And by knowledge the inner parts are filled, [With] all precious and pleasant wealth.
Its rooms are filled by knowledge with all kinds of valuable and beautiful objects.
5 Mighty [is] the wise in strength, And a man of knowledge is strengthening power,
If you have wisdom, you are strong; if you have knowledge, your power increases,
6 For by plans thou makest for thyself war, And deliverance [is] in a multitude of counsellors.
for with wise guidance you can go to war; you will be victorious by having many good advisors.
7 Wisdom [is] high for a fool, In the gate he openeth not his mouth.
Wisdom goes over the heads of stupid people; they have nothing to contribute when important matters are discussed.
8 Whoso is devising to do evil, Him they call a master of wicked thoughts.
Anyone who plans to do evil will be seen as a troublemaker.
9 The thought of folly [is] sin, And an abomination to man [is] a scorner.
Plans thought up by stupid people are sinful. Everyone hates those who are scornful of others.
10 Thou hast shewed thyself weak in a day of adversity, Straitened is thy power,
If you give up in times of trouble, it shows how weak you are.
11 If [from] delivering those taken to death, And those slipping to the slaughter — thou keepest back.
Rescue those who are being led away to be executed; save those who are stumbling on their way to be slaughtered.
12 When thou sayest, 'Lo, we knew not this.' Is not the Ponderer of hearts He who understandeth? And the Keeper of thy soul He who knoweth? And He hath rendered to man according to his work.
If you say, “Look, we didn't know anything about this,” don't you think the God who judges your motives will see what's happening? He who watches over you knows, and he will pay people back for what they've done.
13 Eat my son, honey that [is] good, And the honeycomb — sweet to thy palate.
My son, eating honey is good for you; the honeycomb tastes sweet.
14 So [is] the knowledge of wisdom to thy soul, If thou hast found that there is a posterity And thy hope is not cut off.
In the same way, you should know that wisdom is good for you; if you find it, there will be a future for you, and your hope will not be crushed.
15 Lay not wait, O wicked one, At the habitation of the righteous. Do not spoil his resting-place.
Don't be like a criminal waiting to ambush the home of good people; don't attack the place where they live.
16 For seven [times] doth the righteous fall and rise, And the wicked stumble in evil.
Those who do right may fall down seven times, and still get up again; but the wicked are brought down by disaster.
17 In the falling of thine enemy rejoice not, And in his stumbling let not thy heart be joyful,
Don't celebrate when your enemies fall; don't be glad when they trip up,
18 Lest Jehovah see, and [it be] evil in His eyes, And He hath turned from off him His anger.
otherwise when the Lord sees it, he'll be unhappy with you and won't punish your enemies as he planned.
19 Fret not thyself at evil doers, Be not envious at the wicked,
Don't get all upset over the wicked, or be jealous of those who do wrong,
20 For there is not a posterity to the evil, The lamp of the wicked is extinguished.
for evil people have no future—the lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out.
21 Fear Jehovah, my son, and the king, With changers mix not up thyself,
My son, honor the Lord and the king, and don't join those who are rebellious,
22 For suddenly doth their calamity rise, And the ruin of them both — who knoweth!
for disaster will suddenly fall on them. Who knows how the Lord and king will punish them?
23 These also are for the wise: — To discern faces in judgment is not good.
These are more sayings of the wise: Showing favoritism when passing judgment is wrong.
24 Whoso is saying to the wicked, 'Thou [art] righteous,' Peoples execrate him — nations abhor him.
Those who tell the guilty, “You're innocent,” will be cursed by the people and hated by the nation,
25 And to those reproving it is pleasant, And on them cometh a good blessing.
while those who convict the guilty will be appreciated, and will receive a rich blessing.
26 Lips he kisseth who is returning straightforward words.
An honest answer is a kiss on the lips.
27 Prepare in an out-place thy work, And make it ready in the field — go afterwards, Then thou hast built thy house.
Do the work you need to do outside first, then prepare and sow your fields, and only after that start building your house.
28 Be not a witness for nought against thy neighbour, Or thou hast enticed with thy lips.
Don't testify against your neighbors without having a good reason, and don't tell lies.
29 Say not, 'As he did to me, so I do to him, I render to each according to his work.'
Don't say to yourself, “I'm going to do to him what he did to me! I'll pay him back for what he's done!”
30 Near the field of a slothful man I passed by, And near the vineyard of a man lacking heart.
I walked past the field of a lazy man, past a vineyard of someone with no sense.
31 And lo, it hath gone up — all of it — thorns! Covered its face have nettles, And its stone wall hath been broken down.
It was all overgrown with thorns, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall had fallen down.
32 And I see — I — I do set my heart, I have seen — I have received instruction,
As I looked I thought about it, and what I saw taught me a lesson:
33 A little sleep — a little slumber — A little folding of the hands to lie down.
You may say, “Please, just a little more sleep, a little longer snooze, a little more folding of the arms to rest”—
34 And thy poverty hath come [as] a traveller, And thy want as an armed man!
and poverty will attack you like a robber, destitution like an armed warrior.
