Proverbs

24 Be not thou envious of wicked men, Neither crave to be with them;

2 For violence their heart muttereth, And mischief their lips do speak.

3 In wisdom is a house builded, And in understanding is it established;

4 And in knowledge chambers are filled, With all acquisitions costly and fair.

5 A wise man is mighty, And a man of knowledge becometh alert in vigour.

6 Surely with concerted measures shalt thou make for thyself war, And success lieth in the greatness of the counsellor.

7 Unattainable to a foolish man are the dictates of wisdom, In the gate he openeth not his mouth.

8 He that deviseth to do mischief Him shall men call a master of plots.

9 The purpose of folly is sin, And an abomination to mankind is a buffoon.

10 Thou hast been slothful in the day of straitness, Strait is thy strength.

11 Deliver thou such as are being led forth to death, And them who are tottering to slaughter oh that thou wouldst hold back!

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?

13 My son, eat thou honey because it is good,—And droppings from the comb [because they are] sweet to thy palate:

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.

15 Do not lie in wait, thou lawless man, against the home of the righteous,—Neither destroy thou his place of rest;

16 For seven times may the righteous fall and yet arise, But lawless men shall stumble into calamity.

17 When thine enemy falleth do not thou rejoice, And when he stumbleth let not thy heart exult:

18 Lest Yahweh see it and it be wicked in his eyes, And he turn away from him his anger.

19 Burn not with vexation against evildoers, Be not envious of lawless men;

20 For there shall be no future for the wicked, The lamp of the lawless shall go out.

21 Revere thou Yahweh, my son, and the king, And with the fickle have thou no fellowship;

22 For suddenly shall arise their calamity; And the misfortune of their years who knoweth?

23 These things also concern the wise, To take note of faces in judgment is not good.

24 He that saith to the lawless man, Righteous thou art Peoples shall denounce him, Populations shall curse him;

25 But to reprovers one should be pleasant, And upon them should come an excellent blessing:

26 Lips should one kiss With one who answereth in right words.

27 Prepare in the open thy work And make ready in the field for thyself, Afterwards shalt thou build thy house.

28 Do not become a needless witness against thy neighbour, So mightest thou open too wide thy lips:

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.

30 By the field of the sluggard I passed, And by the vineyard of a man lacking 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.

32 So I observed it for myself, I applied my heart, I looked—I accepted correction:

33 A little sleep, A little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest:

34 So shall come in as a highwayman thy poverty, And thy want as one armed with a shield.