מִשְׁלֵי 24
| אל תקנא באנשי רעה ואל תתאו להיות אתם׃ | 1 |
Do not envy evil people; do not desire to associate with them,
| כי שד יהגה לבם ועמל שפתיהם תדברנה׃ | 2 |
because they are [constantly] thinking about acting violently, and whenever they speak [MTY], they talk about (causing trouble/hurting someone).
| בחכמה יבנה בית ובתבונה יתכונן׃ | 3 |
People make good houses (OR, families) by doing what is wise, and they make their houses (OR, families) strong by [heeding] good advice.
| ובדעת חדרים ימלאו כל הון יקר ונעים׃ | 4 |
By using good sense, [they are able to buy] valuable and beautiful things and put them in the rooms of their houses.
| גבר חכם בעוז ואיש דעת מאמץ כח׃ | 5 |
Being wise is better than being strong/powerful; those who know [many things can accomplish more] than those who are [very] strong.
| כי בתחבלות תעשה לך מלחמה ותשועה ברב יועץ׃ | 6 |
Leaders can fight battles if they have wise advisors, and they win those battles if they have many good advisors.
| ראמות לאויל חכמות בשער לא יפתח פיהו׃ | 7 |
Foolish people cannot understand wise sayings/talk; at public meetings they are not [able to] say anything [that is useful].
| מחשב להרע לו בעל מזמות יקראו׃ | 8 |
Those who are [always] planning to do evil things will be called troublemakers.
| זמת אולת חטאת ותועבת לאדם לץ׃ | 9 |
It is sinful to plan to do foolish things, and people hate those who make fun of [everything that is good].
| התרפית ביום צרה צר כחכה׃ | 10 |
If you [act as though] you are helpless when you have troubles, you are [truly very] weak.
| הצל לקחים למות ומטים להרג אם תחשוך׃ | 11 |
[If it is unjustly decided] that someone must be executed, [try hard to] rescue them [DOU].
| כי תאמר הן לא ידענו זה הלא תכן לבות הוא יבין ונצר נפשך הוא ידע והשיב לאדם כפעלו׃ | 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.
| אכל בני דבש כי טוב ונפת מתוק על חכך׃ | 13 |
My child/son, eat honey, because it is good [for you]; the honey that drips from honeycombs tastes [very] sweet.
| כן דעה חכמה לנפשך אם מצאת ויש אחרית ותקותך לא תכרת׃ | 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].
| אל תארב רשע לנוה צדיק אל תשדד רבצו׃ | 15 |
Do not be like wicked people who [hide and] wait to break into the houses of righteous/good [people] and rob/steal things.
| כי שבע יפול צדיק וקם ורשעים יכשלו ברעה׃ | 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.
| בנפל אויביך אל תשמח ובכשלו אל יגל לבך׃ | 17 |
Do not be happy when something bad happens to one of your enemies; do not rejoice when he stumbles and falls,
| פן יראה יהוה ורע בעיניו והשיב מעליו אפו׃ | 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.
| אל תתחר במרעים אל תקנא ברשעים׃ | 19 |
Do not become angry/upset about those who do what is evil, and do not [SYN] envy them,
| כי לא תהיה אחרית לרע נר רשעים ידעך׃ | 20 |
because [nothing good] will happen to wicked people; they are [like] a lamp that will soon be extinguished [MET].
| ירא את יהוה בני ומלך עם שונים אל תתערב׃ | 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,
| כי פתאם יקום אידם ופיד שניהם מי יודע׃ | 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.
| גם אלה לחכמים הכר פנים במשפט בל טוב׃ | 23 |
Here are more things that wise [people] have said: It is wrong for judges to decide matters unfairly [IDM].
| אמר לרשע צדיק אתה יקבהו עמים יזעמוהו לאמים׃ | 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,
| ולמוכיחים ינעם ועליהם תבוא ברכת טוב׃ | 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).
| שפתים ישק משיב דברים נכחים׃ | 26 |
Those who answer others honestly show that they are truly their friends [IDM].
| הכן בחוץ מלאכתך ועתדה בשדה לך אחר ובנית ביתך׃ | 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.
| אל תהי עד חנם ברעך והפתית בשפתיך׃ | 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].
| אל תאמר כאשר עשה לי כן אעשה לו אשיב לאיש כפעלו׃ | 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.”
| על שדה איש עצל עברתי ועל כרם אדם חסר לב׃ | 30 |
One day I walked by the vineyards of a lazy man, a man who did not have good sense.
| והנה עלה כלו קמשנים כסו פניו חרלים וגדר אבניו נהרסה׃ | 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).
| ואחזה אנכי אשית לבי ראיתי לקחתי מוסר׃ | 32 |
When I saw that, I thought about it, and I learned this:
| מעט שנות מעט תנומות מעט חבק ידים לשכב׃ | 33 |
[If you spend a lot of time] sleeping and napping and folding your hands while you rest,
| ובא מתהלך רישך ומחסריך כאיש מגן׃ | 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].
