Proverbs 24:7-27

⁷Wisdom is high to a fool; in the gate he shall not open his mouth. (Wisdom is too high for a fool to reach; in court or at the city gates, he shall not even dare to open his mouth.)

⁸He that thinketh to do evils, shall be called a fool.

⁹The thought of a fool is (a) sin; and a backbiter is abomination of men (or and a backbiter is an abomination to everyone).

¹⁰If thou hast slid, despairest (thou) in the day of anguish, (for) thy strength shall be made less.

¹¹Deliver thou them, that be led to death, (or Rescue thou them, who be led to death); and cease thou not to deliver them, that be drawn to death.

¹²If thou sayest, Strongholds suffice not; he that is the beholder of the heart, understandeth, and nothing deceiveth the keeper of thy soul, and he shall yield to a man after his works.

¹³My son, eat thou honey, for it is good; and the honeycomb for it is full sweet to thy throat.

¹⁴So and the teaching of wisdom is good to thy soul; and when thou hast found it, thou shalt have hope in the last things, and thine hope shall not perish. (And so the teaching of wisdom is good for thy soul; and when thou hast found it, thou shalt have hope unto the end, and thy hope shall never perish.)

¹⁵Ambush thou not, and seek not (to bring) wickedness in the house of a just man, neither waste thou, his rest(ing) (place). (Do not thou ambush, and do not seek to bring wickedness into the house of a righteous person, nor destroy thou his resting place.)

¹⁶For a just man shall fall seven times in the day, and shall rise again; but wicked men shall fall into evil. (For a righteous person shall fall seven times in a day, and shall rise up again each time; but the wicked shall fall into evil, and shall never get out of it.)

¹⁷When thine enemy falleth, have thou not joy; and thine heart have not full out joying in his falling;

¹⁸lest peradventure the Lord see, and it displease him, and he take away his ire from him.

¹⁹Strive thou not with the worst men, neither follow thou wicked men. (Argue thou not with the wicked, nor follow thou the wicked.)

²⁰For why evil men have not hope of things to come, and the lantern of wicked men shall be quenched. (For evil people have no hope in things to come, and the lantern of the wicked shall be quenched.)

²¹My son, dread thou God, and the king; and be thou not meddled with backbiters. (My son, fear thou God or have thou reverence for God, and the king; and be thou not mixed in, or mingled, with backbiters.)

²²For their perdition shall rise together suddenly (or For their perdition shall suddenly rise up, or shall happen), and who knoweth the fall of ever either?

²³Also these things that follow be to wise men. It is not good to know a person in doom. (And these things that follow also be for the wise. It is not good to know a person whom thou is judging.)

²⁴Peoples shall curse them that say to a wicked man, Thou art just; and lineages shall hold them abominable. (The peoples, or the nations, shall curse those who say to a wicked person, Thou art righteous; and the tribes, or all the people, shall hold them as abominable.)

²⁵They that reprove justly sinners, shall be praised (or They who justly rebuke sinners, shall be praised); and blessing shall come up on them.

²⁶He that answereth (with) rightful words, shall kiss lips. (Lips shall kiss him, who answereth with upright words.)

²⁷Make ready thy work withoutforth, and work thy field diligently, that thou build thine house afterward. (Do all thy work outside, and work thy field diligently, and then afterward, thou shalt build thy house.)