Proverbs 24:16-34

¹⁶For a righteous man falleth seven times, and riseth up again, but the wicked stumble under adversity.

¹⁷Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thy heart be glad when he stumbleth;

¹⁸Lest the LORD see it, and it displease Him, and He turn away His wrath from him.

¹⁹Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious at the wicked;

²⁰For there will be no future to the evil man, the lamp of the wicked shall be put out.

²¹My son, fear thou the LORD and the king, and meddle not with them that are given to change;

²²For their calamity shall rise suddenly; and who knoweth the ruin from them both?

²³These also are sayings of the wise. To have respect of persons in judgment is not good.

²⁴He that saith unto the wicked: 'Thou art righteous', peoples shall curse him, nations shall execrate him;

²⁵But to them that decide justly shall be delight, and a good blessing shall come upon them.

²⁶He kisseth the lips that giveth a right answer.

²⁷Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thy house.

²⁸Be not a witness against thy neighbour without cause; and deceive not with thy lips.

²⁹Say not: 'I will do so to him as he hath done to me; I will render to the man according to his work.'

³⁰I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding;

³¹And, lo, it was all grown over with thistles, the face thereof was covered with nettles, and the stone wall thereof was broken down.

³²Then I beheld, and considered well; I saw, and received instruction.

³³'Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep' —

³⁴So shall thy poverty come as a runner, and thy want as an armed man.