Proverbs 24
24
1Don’t envy the evil#Ps 37:1; Pr 23:17; 24:19
or desire to be with them,#Ps 1:1; Pr 1:15
2for their hearts plan violence,
and their words stir up trouble.#Ps 10:7
3A house is built by wisdom,#Pr 14:1
and it is established by understanding;
4by knowledge the rooms are filled
with every precious and beautiful treasure.
5A wise warrior is better than a strong one,#24:5 LXX, Syr; MT reads is in strength
and a man of knowledge than one of strength;#24:5 LXX, Syr, Tg; MT reads knowledge exerts strength#Pr 21:22
6for you should wage war with sound guidance —
victory comes with many counselors.#Pr 11:14; 15:22; 20:18
7Wisdom is inaccessible to#24:7 Lit is too high for a fool;#Pr 14:6; 17:16,24
he does not open his mouth at the city gate.#Jb 5:4; Ps 127:5
8The one who plots evil#Rm 1:30
will be called a schemer.
9A foolish scheme is sin,
and a mocker is detestable to people.
10If you do nothing in a difficult time,
your strength is limited.
11Rescue those being taken off to death,
and save those stumbling toward slaughter.#Ps 82:4; Is 58:6–7
12If you say, “But we didn’t know about this,”
won’t he who weighs hearts#1Sm 16:7; Ps 44:21; Pr 21:2 consider it?
Won’t he who protects your life#Ps 121:3–8 know?
Won’t he repay a person according to his work?#Jb 34:11; Ps 62:12
13Eat honey,#Pr 25:16 my son, for it is good,
and the honeycomb is sweet to your palate;#Sg 5:1
14realize that wisdom is the same for you.#Ps 19:10; 119:103
If you find it, you will have a future,
and your hope will never fade.#Pr 10:28; 23:18; Jr 29:11
15Don’t set an ambush, you wicked one,
at the camp of the righteous man;#Pr 10:9–10
don’t destroy his dwelling.
16Though a righteous person falls seven times,
he will get up,#Jb 5:19; Ps 37:24
but the wicked will stumble into ruin.#Pr 14:32; 29:16
17Don’t gloat when your enemy falls,
and don’t let your heart rejoice when he stumbles,#Ps 35:15,19; Pr 17:5; Ob 12; Mc 7:8
18or the Lord will see, be displeased,
and turn his wrath away from him.
19Don’t be agitated by evildoers,
and don’t envy the wicked.#Ps 37:1; Pr 23:17; 24:1
20For the evil have no future;#Ps 37:38; Pr 14:11; 16:25
the lamp of the wicked will be put out.#2Sm 21:17; Jb 18:5; 21:17; Pr 13:9; 20:20
21My son, fear the Lord, as well as the king,#Mt 22:21; Rm 13:1–7; 1Pt 2:13–14,17
and don’t associate with rebels,#24:21 Or those given to change
22for destruction will come suddenly from them;
who knows what distress these two can bring?
23These sayings also belong to the wise:#Pr 1:6; 22:17
It is not good to show partiality in judgment.#Dt 1:17; 16:19; Pr 18:5; 28:21
24Whoever says to the guilty, “You are innocent”#Pr 17:15 —
peoples will curse him,#Pr 11:26 and nations will denounce him;
25but it will go well with those who convict the guilty,
and a generous blessing will come to them.
26He who gives an honest answer
gives a kiss on the lips.
27Complete your outdoor work, and prepare your field;#Pr 20:4
afterward, build your house.
28Don’t testify against your neighbor without cause.#Ex 20:16; Pr 25:18
Don’t deceive with your lips.
29Don’t say, “I’ll do to him what he did to me;
I’ll repay the man for what he has done.”#Dt 32:35; Pr 20:22; Mt 5:39; Rm 12:17,19
30I went by the field of a slacker
and by the vineyard of one lacking sense.
31Thistles had come up everywhere,
weeds covered the ground,#Gn 3:18; Pr 20:4
and the stone wall was ruined.
32I saw, and took it to heart;
I looked, and received instruction:
33a little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the arms to rest,
34and your poverty will come like a robber,
and your need, like a bandit.#Pr 6:10–11; 20:13
Currently Selected:
Proverbs 24: CSB
Highlight
Share
Copy
![None](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimageproxy.youversionapi.com%2F58%2Fhttps%3A%2F%2Fweb-assets.youversion.com%2Fapp-icons%2Fen.png&w=128&q=75)
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Proverbs 24
24
1Seek not to be like evil men, neither desire to be with them:
2Because their mind studieth robberies, and their lips speak deceits.
3By wisdom the house shall be built, and by prudence it shall be strengthened.
4By instruction the storerooms shall be filled with all precious and most beautiful wealth.
5A wise man is strong: and a knowing man, stout and valiant.
6Because war is managed by due ordering: and there shall be safety where there are many counsels.
7Wisdom is too high for a fool, in the gate he shall not open his mouth.
8He that deviseth to do evils, shall be called a fool.
9The thought of a fool is sin: and the detracter is the abomination of men.
10If thou lose hope being weary in the day of distress, thy strength shall be diminished.
11Deliver them that are led to death: and those that are drawn to death forbear not to deliver.
12If thou say: I have not strength enough: he that seeth into the heart, he understandeth, and nothing deceiveth the keeper of thy soul, end he shall render to a man according to his works.
13Fat honey, my son, because it is good, and the honeycomb most sweet to thy throat:
14So also is the doctrine of wisdom to thy soul: which when thou hast found, thou shalt have hope in the end, and thy hope shall not perish.
15Lie not in wait, nor seek after wickedness in the house of the just, nor spoil his rest.
16For a just man shall fall seven times and shall rise again: but the wicked shall fall down into evil.
17When thy enemy shall fall, be not glad, and in his ruin let not thy heart rejoice:
18Lest the Lord see, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him.
19Contend not with the wicked, nor seek to be like the ungodly:
20For evil men have no hope of things to come, and the lamp of the wicked shall be put out.
21My son, fear the Lord and the king: and have nothing to do with detracters.
22For their destruction shall rise suddenly: and who knoweth the ruin of both?
23These things also to the wise: It is not good to have respect to persons in judgment.
24They that say to the wicked man: Thou art just: shall be cursed by the people, and the tribes shall abhor them.
25They that rebuke him, shall be praised: and a blessing shall come upon them.
26He shall kiss the lips, who answereth right words.
27Prepare thy work without, and diligently till thy ground: that afterward thou mayst build thy house.
28Be not witness without cause against thy neighbour: and deceive not any man with thy lips.
29Say not: I will do to him as he hath done to me: I will render to every one according to his work.
30I passed by the field of the slothful man, and by the vineyard of the foolish man:
31And behold it was all filled with nettles, and thorns had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall was broken down.
32Which when I had seen, I laid it up in my heart, and by the example I received instruction.
33Thou wilt sleep a little, said I, thou wilt slumber a little, thou wilt fold thy hands a little to rest:
34And poverty shall come to thee as a runner, and beggary as an armed man.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
![None](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimageproxy.youversionapi.com%2F58%2Fhttps%3A%2F%2Fweb-assets.youversion.com%2Fapp-icons%2Fen.png&w=128&q=75)
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.