Proverbs 24
1 Don’t envy evil people or want to be with them,
2 because their hearts plot destruction, and their lips speak of oppression.
3 A house is built by wisdom and made secure through understanding.
4 Through knowledge, its rooms are filled with every precious and pleasant treasure.
5 A wise man has strength, and a knowledgeable man increases his power.
6 You wage war with good strategy, and victory comes through many advisers.
7 Wisdom is too lofty for a fool; he has nothing to say in court.
8 Whoever plans to do evil will be called a schemer.
9 Foolish schemes are sin, and a mocker is detestable to people.
10 If you lose heart on the day of trouble, your strength is small.
11 Rescue those being led away to death; don’t hold back from helping those staggering toward slaughter.
12 If you say, “Look, we didn’t know about this,” won’t the one who weighs hearts understand? The one who watches over your life knows, and he will repay each person according to what they have done.
13 My son, eat honey, for it is good; the honeycomb is sweet to your taste.
14 Know that wisdom is good for your life. If you find it, there is a future for you, and your hope will not be cut off.
15 Don’t lie in wait, wicked one, against the home of the righteous; don’t destroy the place where he rests.
16 Though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again, but the wicked stumble into disaster.
17 Don’t rejoice when your enemy falls; when he stumbles, don’t let your heart exult,
18 or the LORD may see it and consider it evil, and turn his anger away from him.
19 Don’t fret because of evildoers or envy the wicked,
20 for the evildoer has no future; the lamp of the wicked will go out.
21 Fear the LORD, my son, and the king; don’t associate with those who are changeable,
22 for disaster will come on them suddenly. Who knows what ruin the two of them will bring?
23 These sayings also come from the wise: Showing favoritism in judgment is not good.
24 Whoever tells the guilty, “You are innocent,” will be cursed by peoples and condemned by nations.
25 But those who rebuke him will be pleased, and a blessing of good will come upon them.
26 An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips.
27 Get your work ready outside; prepare it in the field for yourself. After that, build your house.
28 Don’t testify against your neighbor without cause, and don’t deceive with your words.
29 Don’t say, “I’ll do to him what he did to me; I’ll repay him according to what he has done.”
30 I passed by the field of a lazy man, by the vineyard of someone lacking sense.
31 Look, it was overgrown with thorns; nettles covered its surface, and its stone wall was in ruins.
32 I looked and thought it over; I saw it and took the lesson to heart.
33 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest,
34 and poverty will come upon you like a bandit, and need like an armed man.
Read and listen to this chapter in the Shalem app, free: narration, chapter video and reading progress. Get the app