Proverbs 24

CLV^{(i) 1} Do not be jealous of evil men, And do not yearn to be with them." ² For their heart cogitates on devastation, And their lips plan misery." ³ By wisdom a house is built, And by comprehension it is established." ⁴ By knowledge its chambers are filled With all precious and pleasant wealth. ⁵ A wise master is one with strength, And a man of knowledge is resolute with vigor;" ⁶ For you execute war for yourself according to strategy, And in many counselors there is safety." ⁷ Wisdom is too high for the fool; In the gateway he does not open his mouth. ⁸ He who designs to do evil, They call him a scheming person." ⁹ The schemes of folly are sin, And a mocker is an abhorrence to humanity." ¹⁰ If you slacken in a day of distress, How constricted is your vigor!" ¹¹ Rescue those being taken to death, And you should keep back those who are slipping away to the kill." ¹² If you say, Behold, we know nothing about this, Does not He Who regulates hearts detect it, And He Who preserves your soul know it, Who will render to a man according to his deeds? ¹³ My son, eat honey, for it is good, And honeycomb is sweet on your palate;" ¹⁴ Do know that wisdom is so to your soul when you find it, And it has an end so that your expectation shall not be cut off." ¹⁵ Do not wait in ambush as a wicked man against the homestead of a righteous man; Do not devastate his reclining place; ¹⁶ For the righteous one shall fall seven times and still rise, Yet the wicked shall be stumbled by evil." ¹⁷ At the fall of your enemy do not rejoice, And at his stumbling do not let your heart exult, ¹⁸ Lest Yahweh should see and it be evil in His eyes, So that He turns away His anger from him." ¹⁹ Do not grow hot over evildoers; Do not be jealous over the wicked; ²⁰ For there shall be no good end for the evil man; The lamp of the wicked shall be extinguished. ²¹ Fear Yahweh, my son, and the king; With both of them do not be enraged;" ²² For suddenly calamity from them shall rise, And misfortune from them both, who can know it? ²³ These also are sayings of the wise:To be biased in judgment is never good. ²⁴ He who says to the wicked man, You are righteous--The people shall revile him; the populace shall be indignant toward him." ²⁵ Yet for those who reprove, it shall be pleasant, And on them shall come the blessing of good." ²⁶ He kisses the lips Who replies with corrective words. ²⁷ Prepare your work outside, and equip it for yourself in the field; Afterward you may then build up your household." ²⁸ Do not become a gratuitous witness against your associate, Or would you dupe with your lips? ²⁹ Do not say, Just as he did to me, so shall I do to him; I shall render to the man according to his deeds." ³⁰ I passed by the field of the slothful man, And by the vineyard of the man who lacked heart understanding, ³¹ And behold, all of it came up with sting nettles, Prickly acanthus covered its surface, And its barrier-wall of stones was pulled down." ³² Then I myself set my heart on what I was perceiving; I took admonition from what I saw: ³³ A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands, to lie at rest, ³⁴ And your destitution will come like a wayfarer, And your lack like a man with a shield."