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do not desire to be with them;
2 for their hearts devise violence,
and their lips talk about stirring up trouble.
3 By wisdom a house is built,
and by understanding it is established;
4 by knowledge the rooms are filled
with every precious and beautiful treasure.
5 A wise warrior is greatly superior to a strong one,
and a man of knowledge than a man of strength;
6 for you need wise counsel to wage war,
and many counsellors to achieve the victory.
7 Wisdom is too high for a fool;
he has nothing to say to the assembly at the city gate.
8 He who plots evil
will be known as a schemer.
9 The devising of folly is sin,
and a mocker is detestable to men.
10 If you shrink back in a time of hardship,
your strength is small.
11 Rescue those who are being led away to death;
save those who are stumbling toward slaughter.
12 If you say, “But we knew nothing about this,”
does not He who weighs the heart consider it?
Does not He who guards your life know it?
Will He not repay every man according to what he has done?
13 Eat honey, my son, for it is good,
and honey dripping from the comb is sweet to your taste.
14 So will the knowledge of wisdom be sweet to your soul;
if you find it, you will have a future,
and your hope will not be cut off.
15 Do not lie in wait, O wicked man, outside the house of a righteous man;
do not plunder the place where he dwells;
16 for though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again,
but the wicked are brought down by calamity.
17 Do not gloat when your enemy falls,
and do not let your heart rejoice when he stumbles,
18 or the Lord will see and be displeased,
and turn away His wrath from him.
19 Do not fret because of evil men
or be envious of the wicked,
20 for the evil man has no future;
the lamp of the wicked will be put out.
21 My son, fear the Lord and the king;
and do not join with those who are rebellious,
22 for disaster will come upon them suddenly,
and who knows what calamity both of these can bring?
23 These sayings also belong to the wise:
It is not good to show partiality in judgment.
24 Whoever says to the guilty, “You are innocent,”—
people will curse him and nations denounce him.
25 But it will go well with those who convict the guilty,
and a rich blessing will come upon them.
26 He who gives an honest answer
gives a kiss on the lips.
27 Finish your work outside,
and prepare your fields;
after that, build your house.
28 Do not testify against your neighbour without cause,
and do not deceive with your lips.
29 Do not say, “I will do to him as he has done to me;
I will repay that man for what he has done.”
30 I went past the field of the sluggard,
past the vineyard of the man lacking sense;
31 it was overgrown with thorns,
the ground was covered with weeds,
and the stone wall was broken down.
32 When I saw this, I took it to heart;
I looked at it and learned a lesson:
33 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest—
34 and poverty will come on you like a robber,
and lack, like an armed man.