Proverbs 24:19-34

¹⁹Don’t fret yourself because of evildoers, neither be envious of the wicked;

²⁰for there will be no reward to the evil man. The lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out.

²¹My son, fear the LORD and the king. Don’t join those who are rebellious,

²²for their calamity will rise suddenly. Who knows what destruction may come from them both?

²³These also are sayings of the wise: To show partiality in judgment is not good.

²⁴He who says to the wicked, “You are righteous,” peoples will curse him, and nations will abhor him—

²⁵but it will go well with those who convict the guilty, and a rich blessing will come on them.

²⁶An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips.

²⁷Prepare your work outside, and get your fields ready. Afterwards, build your house.

²⁸Don’t be a witness against your neighbor without cause. Don’t deceive with your lips.

²⁹Don’t say, “I will do to him as he has done to me; I will repay the man according to his work.”

³⁰I went by the field of the sluggard, by the vineyard of the man void of understanding.

³¹Behold, it was all grown over with thorns. Its surface was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down.

³²Then I saw, and considered well. I saw, and received instruction:

³³a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep,

³⁴so your poverty will come as a robber and your want as an armed man.