¹Do not be envious of evil men,

And do not long to be with them.

²For their heart meditates on violence,

And their lips speak of ill-treatment.

³A house is built with skill,

And it is established with expertise,

⁴And rooms are filled with knowledge

And all kinds of precious and delightful belongings.

⁵A wise man disposes over strength,

And a knowledgeable man increases his power,

⁶For it is with strategy that you can wage a war,

And success comes through taking much counsel.

⁷Wisdom to a fool is too lofty;

At the gate he does not open his mouth.

⁸As for him who plots doing evil,

They will call him a schemer.

⁹The scheming of a fool is a sin,

And a mocker is an abomination to men.

¹⁰If you flag on an adverse day,

Your strength is feeble.

¹¹If you refrain from delivering those

Who are being taken away to death,

Or who are on the verge of being killed,

¹²If you say,

“Look, we did not know this”,

Does not he who examines hearts discern the matter?

And will he who guards your life not know,

And will he not requite a man according to his deed?

¹³My son, eat honey,

Because it is good,

And honey from the honeycomb,

Which is sweet on your palate.

¹⁴So get to know wisdom.

It is for your life if you have found it,

And it has an effect,

And your hope will not be dashed.

¹⁵Do not wickedly hold an ambush at the dwelling of a righteous man,

And do not lay his place of rest waste.

¹⁶For a righteous man may fall seven times

And get up again,

But the wicked will stumble into trouble.

¹⁷Do not rejoice when your enemy falls,

And do not let your heart exult at his stumbling,

¹⁸Lest the Lord sees,

And it is wrong in his sight,

And he turns his anger from him against you.

¹⁹Do not be infuriated at evildoers;

Do not be envious of the wicked,

²⁰For the evil man will not have any posterity

– The lamp of the wicked will be extinguished.

²¹My son, fear the Lord and the king;

Do not involve yourself with the fickle,

²²For suddenly their downfall arises,

And who knows

The demise of them both?

²³These things too belong to the wise.

It is not right to show partiality in judgment,

²⁴Saying to the wicked man,

“You are righteous.”

Peoples will vilify him;

Nations will be indignant at him.

²⁵But to those who rebuke a man showing partiality,

It will be a delight,

And a good blessing will come on them.

²⁶May one compliment the lips

When a man replies with straightforward words.

²⁷Prepare your exterior work,

And make it ready for yourself on your site,

Then afterwards you can build your house.

²⁸Do not be a gratuitous witness against your neighbour,

And would you deceive with your lips?

²⁹Do not say,

³⁰I passed by the field of a lazy man,

And by the vineyard of a weak-minded person,

³¹And what I saw was

That thistles had overgrown it all,

And that its surface was covered in nettles,

And that the stone wall was dilapidated.

³²So I took note and laid it to heart;

I looked and received instruction.

³³A little more sleep,

A little more slumbering,

A little more folding the arms to lie down,

³⁴And along will come your impoverishment

And your penury,

Like a man with a shield.

Reference(s) in Chapter 24: v.29 ↔ Romans 12:19.