Do Not Envy

Saying 20

1Do not be envious of men of evil,

and do not desire to be with them,

2for their heart devises violence

and their lips speak trouble.

Saying 21

3By wisdom a house is built,

and by understanding it is established,

4and by knowledge the rooms are filled

with all precious pleasant wealth.

Saying 22

5A man of wisdom is strong;†

and a man of knowledge strengthens power;

6for by wise counsel you can fashion for yourself the battle,

and victory is in a multitude counselors.

Saying 23

7Wisdom is high for a fool;

in the gate he does not open his mouth.

Saying 24

8One planning to do evil,

they will call him an owner of schemes.

9The plotting of foolishness is sin,

and an abomination to man is onemocking.

Saying 25

10If you slacken in the day of distress,

then narrow is your strength.

11Deliver those being led away to death,

and those stumbling to the slaughter, if only you would hold back.

12If you say, “Behold we did not know this,”

does not the One weighing hearts Himself know it,

and the One watching over your soul Himself know it?

And He has rendered to each man according to his work.

Saying 26

13Eat honey, my son, for it is good,

and the honeycomb is sweet upon your palate.

14Know that wisdom is thus to your soul;

if you have found it, then there is a posterity,

and your hope will not be cut off.

Saying 27

15Do not lie in wait like a wicked one against the abode of the righteous;

do not spoil his resting place;

16for seven times the righteous may fall and rise up,

and the wicked shall stumble into evil.

Saying 28

17At the falling of your enemy, you should not be glad,

and in his stumbling do not let your heart rejoice,

18lest YHWH should see and it be evil in His eyes,

and He turns away His anger from him.

Saying 29

19You must not fret at the evildoers,

and do not be envious of the wicked,

20for there is no posterity for an evil one,

and the lamp of the wicked ones will be extinguished.

Saying 30

21Fear YHWH, my son, and the king;

do not pledge yourself with ones who change,

22for suddenly their downfall will arise,

and the ruin of them both—who knows?

Further Sayings of the Wise

23These also are of the wise ones:

The recognizing of faces in giving judgment

is not good.

24One saying to a wicked one, “You are righteous”—

peoples will curse him; nations will denounce him;

25and to those reproving it will be pleasant,

and upon them will come a blessing of goodness.

26The lips

he kisses—the one returning straightforward words.

27Prepare your work in the outdoors, and make it ready in the field for yourself;

and afterward you may build your house.

28You must not be a witness without cause against your neighbor

or deceive with your lips.

29Do not say, “According to what he has done to me, so I will do to him;

I will return to the man according to his deed.”

30Near the field of a lazy man I passed by,

and near the vineyard of a man lacking heart.

31And behold, thorns had come up all over it;

its face was covered with nettles,

and the wall of its stones was torn down.

32And I saw—I—I set my heart;

I have seen, I have received instruction.

33A little sleep, a little slumber,

a little a folding of the hands to rest,

34and your poverty has come as one traveling,

and your needs like a man of shield.