Proverbs 24
1 Be not envious of evil men, And desire not to be with them.
Do not envy evil people; do not desire to associate with them,
2 For destruction doth their heart meditate, And perverseness do their lips speak.
because they are [constantly] thinking about acting violently, and whenever they speak [MTY], they talk about (causing trouble/hurting someone).
3 By wisdom is a house builded, And by understanding it establisheth itself.
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 by knowledge the inner parts are filled, [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 Mighty [is] the wise 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 by plans thou makest for thyself war, And deliverance [is] in a multitude of counsellors.
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, 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 Whoso is devising to do evil, Him they call 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 an abomination to man [is] a scorner.
It is sinful to plan to do foolish things, and people hate those who make fun of [everything that is good].
10 Thou hast shewed thyself weak in a day of adversity, Straitened is thy power,
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 those slipping to the slaughter — thou keepest back.
[If it is unjustly decided] that someone must be executed, [try hard to] rescue them [DOU].
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, “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 Eat my son, honey that [is] good, And the honeycomb — 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 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.
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 Lay not 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 seven [times] doth the righteous fall and rise, 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 In the falling of thine enemy rejoice not, And in his stumbling let not thy heart be joyful,
Do not be happy when something bad happens to one of your enemies; do not rejoice when he stumbles and falls,
18 Lest Jehovah see, and [it be] evil in His eyes, And He hath turned from off 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 Fret not thyself at evil doers, Be not 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 Jehovah, my son, and the king, With changers mix not up thyself,
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 doth their calamity rise, And the ruin of them both — 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 also are for the wise: — To discern 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 Whoso is saying to the wicked, 'Thou [art] 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 to those reproving it is pleasant, And on them cometh a good 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 he kisseth who is returning straightforward words.
Those who answer others honestly show that they are truly their friends [IDM].
27 Prepare in an out-place thy work, And make it ready in the field — go afterwards, Then thou hast built 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 Be not a witness for nought against thy neighbour, Or thou hast enticed with 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 Say not, '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 Near the field of a slothful man I passed by, 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 lo, it hath gone up — all of it — thorns! Covered its face have nettles, And its stone wall hath 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 — I do 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 thy poverty hath come [as] a traveller, And thy 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].
