Proverbs 24:24-34

²⁴Those who tell the guilty, “You're innocent,” will be cursed by the people and hated by the nation,

²⁵while those who convict the guilty will be appreciated, and will receive a rich blessing.

²⁶An honest answer is a kiss on the lips.

²⁷Do the work you need to do outside first, then prepare and sow your fields, and only after that start building your house.

²⁸Don't testify against your neighbors without having a good reason, and don't tell lies.

²⁹Don't say to yourself, “I'm going to do to him what he did to me! I'll pay him back for what he's done!”

³⁰I walked past the field of a lazy man, past a vineyard of someone with no sense.

³¹It was all overgrown with thorns, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall had fallen down.

³²As I looked I thought about it, and what I saw taught me a lesson:

³³You may say, “Please, just a little more sleep, a little longer snooze, a little more folding of the arms to rest”—

³⁴and poverty will attack you like a robber, destitution like an armed warrior.