Proverbs Chapter 24

I’ll want another drink.”                                Prov 23:29-35

¹ Don’t envy bad people

            or want to be around them;

         ²their minds devise violence;

            their lips stir up trouble.

³ Wisdom builds a house;

      intelligence establishes a home;

         ⁴knowledge fills its rooms with precious, pleasant wealth.

⁵ The wise are strong;

            knowledge increases their strength;

         ⁶they wage war with effective strategy;

            they win the victory because of their many advisors.

⁷ Wisdom is out of the reach of fools;

they have nothing to say in the city gate.

⁸ People call them schemers who plot misfortune;

⁹ devising foolishness is sin;

scoffing is detestable.                                                            

Prov 24:1-9

                  ¹⁰If adversity makes you weak,

            you’re not very strong to start with.

¹¹ Rescue those unjustly sentenced to death;

save those who are staggering to their execution.

                  ¹²If you try to excuse yourself by claiming ignorance,

                  won’t he know better than that who weighs your heart?

            Doesn’t he know you that keeps your soul?

                  Won’t he render to you what you deserve?

¹³ Son, eat honey; it’s good;

            honeycomb tastes sweet.

         ¹⁴Understand that wisdom is like that to your soul;

            if you find it, you’ll have a bright future,

            and your hope won’t fade away.                               

Prov 24:10-14

¹⁵ Don’t lie in wait at godly people’s house, you wicked;

don’t raid their resting place.

                  ¹⁶Good people fall seven times and get up again;

            but for sinners, one disaster is more than enough.

¹⁷ Don’t be glad when your enemies stumble

            or celebrate when they fall.

         ¹⁸Yahveh won’t be pleased;

            he’ll turn his anger away from them.

¹⁹ Don’t worry about sinners or envy them;

²⁰ they have no future; their lamp will flicker out.     

Prov 24:15-20

²¹ Son, revere Yahveh, respect the king,

            and don’t associate with unstable people;

         ²²their disaster will rise up unexpectedly,

            and ruin you with them.

²³ These are sayings of the wise:

Showing partiality in judgment is unjust.

         ²⁴Anyone that tells sinners they’re good,

            people will curse and nations abhor.

         ²⁵But those who rebuke sinners will receive delight;

            blessing will come to them.

²⁶ Giving an honest answer is like a kiss on the lips.             

Prov 24:21-26

²⁷ Finish your work in the field first;

then come and build your house.

²⁸ Don’t testify against someone for no reason

      or deceive by what you say.

²⁹ Don’t say, “I’ll do to him what he’s done to me;

      I’ll render to him his deeds in return.”

³⁰ I went past a lazy person’s field,

            past the vineyard of someone without common sense.

         ³¹Thistles had taken it over;

            nettles covered the ground;

            its walls were broken down.

³² I thought about what I saw;

I looked and learned:

         ³³“A little sleep, a little slumber,

            a little folding of the hands to rest.”

                  ³⁴Your poverty will descend on you like a raider;

            your need will attack you like an armed robber.       

Prov 24:27-34