Proverbs 24:11-34 ▼

11 Deliver those being led away to death, and those stumbling to the slaughter, if only you would hold back.

12 If 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.

13 Eat honey, my son, for it is good, and the honeycomb is sweet upon your palate.

14 Know 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.

15 Do not lie in wait like a wicked one against the abode of the righteous; do not spoil his resting place;

16 for seven times the righteous may fall and rise up, and the wicked shall stumble into evil.

17 At the falling of your enemy, you should not be glad, and in his stumbling do not let your heart rejoice,

18 lest YHWH should see and it be evil in His eyes, and He turns away His anger from him.

19 You must not fret at the evildoers, and do not be envious of the wicked,

20 for there is no posterity for an evil one, and the lamp of the wicked ones will be extinguished.

21 Fear YHWH, my son, and the king; do not pledge yourself with ones who change,

22 for suddenly their downfall will arise, and the ruin of them both—who knows?

23 These also are of the wise ones: The recognizing of faces in giving judgment is not good.

24 One saying to a wicked one, “You are righteous”—peoples will curse him; nations will denounce him;

25 and to those reproving it will be pleasant, and upon them will come a blessing of goodness.

26 The lips he kisses—the one returning straightforward words.

27 Prepare your work in the outdoors, and make it ready in the field for yourself; and afterward you may build your house.

28 You must not be a witness without cause against your neighbor or deceive with your lips.

29 Do 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.”

30 Near the field of a lazy man I passed by, and near the vineyard of a man lacking heart.

31 And behold, thorns had come up all over it; its face was covered with nettles, and the wall of its stones was torn down.

32 And I saw—I—I set my heart; I have seen, I have received instruction.

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

34 and your poverty has come as one traveling, and your needs like a man of shield.