KJ3 Literal Translation
Proverbs 24
The lamp of the wicked will be put out.
1Do not envy evil men, nor desire to be with them.
2For their heart meditates violence, and their lips speak of mischief.
3Through wisdom a house is built, and it is established by understanding,
4and by knowledge the inner parts shall be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.
5A wise warrior is in strength: yes, a man of knowledge firms up power.
6For you shall make war for yourself by wise advice, and deliverance is in the great Counselor.
7Wisdom is too high for a foolish one, he does not open his mouth in the gate.
8The one devising to do evil shall be called a lord of evil devices.
9The evil plan of foolishness is sin, and one who scorns is a disgusting thing to men.
10Your strength will be narrow if you faint in the day of distress,
11if you hold back to snatch away those being taken to death, and those stumbling for killing;
12for you say, Behold, we did not know this. Does not He who weighs the heart consider it? And the One who keeps your soul, does He not know? Yea, He repays to a man according to his work.
13My son, eat honey because it is good, yea, the honeycomb is sweet on your palate;
14so shall knowledge of wisdom be to your soul when you have found there is a hereafter and your hope is not cut off.
15Wicked one, do not lie in wait against the abode of the righteous one; do not deal violently with his resting place,
16for a righteous one falls seven times and rises up again, but the wicked ones shall stumble into evil.
17Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles,
18lest Jehovah see and it be evil in His eyes, and He turn away His anger from him.
19Do not be hot in anger because of evildoers, and do not envy the wicked ones;
20for no hereafter shall be to the evil one; the lamp of the wicked one will be put out.
21My son, fear Jehovah and the king; do not meddle with those who change,
22for their calamity shall rise suddenly, and who knows the ruin of both of them?
23These also are for the wise ones: to know faces in judgment is not good.
24Whoever says to the wicked one, You are a righteous one; the peoples shall curse him; nations shall abhor him.
25But to those who rebuke him, it is pleasant, and a good blessing comes to them.
26He kisses the lips of one who returns right words.
27Prepare your work outside, and make it ready for yourself in the field, and afterwards even build your house.
28Do not be a witness against your neighbor without cause, or deceive with your lips.
29Do not say, so I will do to him as he has done to me; I will repay to each man according to his work.
30I passed over the field of the lazy man, and by the vineyard of the man lacking heart,
31and, behold, all of it was going up with thistles; nettles had covered its surface, and its stone wall was broken down.
32And I beheld; I set my heart on it; I looked; I received instruction.
33A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to lie down,
34and your poverty comes walking about, and your lack like a man with a shield.
Read Proverbs 24 in the interactive reader with the Hebrew and Greek side by side, audio narration, and the TWOT dictionary.
Open in the reader