Proverbs 24
Expanded Bible
24 Don’t envy evil people
or ·try to be friends [L long to be] with them.
2 Their ·minds [L hearts] are ·always planning [focused/fixated on] violence,
and ·they always [L their lips] talk about making trouble [Ps. 37; 73].
3 ·It takes wisdom to have a good family [L By wisdom a house is built],
and ·it takes understanding to make it strong [L by understanding it is established].
4 ·It takes knowledge to fill a home [L By knowledge rooms are filled]
with rare and beautiful treasures [31:10–31].
5 Wise people ·have great power [or are mightier than strong people],
and those with knowledge ·have [or than those with] great strength.
6 So you need ·advice [guidance] when you go to war.
If you have lots of ·good advice [counselors], you will win.
7 Foolish people cannot understand wisdom.
They ·have nothing to say [L do not open their mouth] in ·a discussion [L the gate; C where the elders make decisions].
8 Whoever makes evil plans
will be ·known as [called] a ·troublemaker [master schemer].
9 ·Making foolish plans [Scheming] is sinful,
and ·making fun of wisdom is hateful [or people despise mockers].
10 If you ·give up [show yourself weak] ·when trouble comes [L on the day of distress/trouble],
it shows that ·you are weak [L your strength is small].
11 ·Save [Rescue; T Deliver] those who are being led to their death;
·rescue [L don’t restrain yourself from] those who ·are about [L tottering off] to be killed.
12 If you say, “We don’t know anything about this,”
God, who ·knows what’s in your mind [evaluates motives; L weighs hearts], ·will notice [L doesn’t he know?].
He ·is watching you [protects/guards your life], and he will know.
He will reward each person for what he has done.
13 My ·child [L son], eat honey because it is good.
Honey from the honeycomb ·tastes sweet [L is sweet on your palate].
14 In the same way, wisdom is pleasing to ·you [your soul].
If you find it, you have ·hope for the [L a] future,
and your ·wishes [hope] will ·come true [L not be cut off].
15 Don’t be wicked and ·attack [ambush; lie in wait at] a ·good [righteous] family’s house;
don’t ·rob [or destroy] the place where they live.
16 Even though ·good [righteous] people may ·be bothered by trouble [L fall] seven times, they ·are never defeated [L get back up],
but the wicked ·are overwhelmed by [stumble into] trouble.
17 Don’t ·be happy [rejoice] when your enemy ·is defeated [L falls];
don’t let your heart be glad when he ·is overwhelmed [L stumbles].
18 The Lord will notice and ·be displeased [L it will be bad in his eyes].
He may ·not be angry with them anymore [L turn his anger from them; Job 31:29; Ps. 35:15–16; Rom. 12:17–21].
19 Don’t ·envy [get mad at] evil people,
and don’t be jealous of the wicked.
20 An evil person has ·nothing to hope for [L no future];
the lamp of the wicked will be ·put out [extinguished].
21 My ·child [L son], ·respect [fear] the Lord and the king.
Don’t join those people who ·refuse to obey them [rebel].
22 ·The Lord and the king [L They] will quickly destroy such people.
·Those two can cause great disaster! [L Who knows the disaster that both can bring?]
More Words of Wisdom
23 These are also ·sayings of [L according to] the wise [22:17]:
It is not good to ·take sides when you are the judge [show partiality/favoritism in judgment].
24 ·Don’t tell [L Those who say to] the wicked ·that they [L “You…”] are ·innocent [righteous];
people will curse you, and nations will ·hate [despise] you.
25 But things will go well if you ·punish [correct; rebuke] the guilty,
and you will receive rich blessings.
26 An honest answer is as pleasing
as a kiss on the lips.
27 First, ·finish your outside work [execute/establish your affairs in public]
and prepare your fields.
After that, you can build your house.
28 Don’t ·testify [witness] against your neighbor for no good reason.
Don’t ·say things that are false [L deceive with your lips].
29 Don’t say, “·I’ll get even [L As they did to me so I will do to them];
I’ll ·do to him what he did to me [repay them according to their actions].”
30 I ·passed by [happened upon] a lazy person’s field
and by the vineyard of someone ·with no sense [L who lacks heart/sense].
31 Thorns had grown up everywhere.
The ground was covered with weeds,
and the stone walls had fallen down.
32 I ·thought about [took to heart] what I had seen;
I learned this lesson from what I saw.
33 ·You sleep a little; you take a nap [“A little sleep, a little slumber”].
·You fold your hands and [L “A little folding of the arms to…”] lie down to rest [6:10].
34 So ·you will be as poor as if you had been robbed [L poverty will come on you like a robber];
·you will have as little as if you had been held up [L deprivation (will come on you) like a shielded warrior].
Proverbs 24
The Voice
The abuse of alcohol is as ancient as the first batch of Egyptian beer or the first sip of Noah’s wine (Genesis 9:20–21). Its wide availability today has made for binge drinking on college campuses, underage drinking by young teens, drunk driving on city streets, and alcoholic rants and abuse in the home. The sage offers a tragic description of a young man who goes from drink to drink and cannot get his bearings in life. Too many people lose so much life in an alcoholic stupor.
24 Do not envy evil people
or seek their friendship;
2 For they are conniving and violent,
and all they talk about is causing trouble.
3 Wisdom is required to build a house;
understanding is necessary to make it secure.
4 Knowledge is needed to furnish all the rooms
and fill them with beautiful treasures.
5 A wise man possesses great strength,
and an intelligent man knows how to increase it;
6 For with wise guidance, you can wage a successful war,
and with a council of many advisors, you will be victorious!
7 Fools can’t grab hold of wisdom; it’s out of their reach;
they dare not open their mouths in public for no one would listen anyway.
8 Whoever schemes to carry out evil
will be labeled a troublemaker.
9 Such foolish plans are sinful,
and the mocker is deplored by all.
10 If you fall apart during a crisis,
then you weren’t very strong to begin with.
11 Rescue everyone you can of those being taken away and killed,
and hold on to those innocent souls staggering toward their own slaughter.
12 If you excuse yourself, saying, “Look, we didn’t know anything about this,”
doesn’t God, who knows what you are really thinking, understand your motives?
Isn’t your Protector aware of why you aren’t protecting the innocent?
Will He not repay you in kind?
Our world is all too familiar with violence and its victims. It’s easy to look the other way, pretend we didn’t see it, hope it goes away, or live in denial. Perhaps we are numbed to real violence because we are so entertained by the onslaught of it in modern media. But the violence in our homes, across our cities, and throughout the world is very real. Every day someone is beaten, captured, raped, enslaved, shot, robbed, stabbed, or run over. Wisdom calls us to step into those places and help those marching off to their deaths. God knows what we know. He knows what is in our hearts.
13 My son, eat honey—it’s good for you;
the honey that drips from the comb is sweet in your mouth.
14 Know, too, that wisdom is good for your soul:
if you find it, your reward will be a bright future
and an enduring hope!
15 Do not lurk outside the home of the just like a common criminal;
do not tear up the place where he rests.
16 For a good man may fall seven times and get back up again,
but the wicked will stumble around and fall into misfortune.
17 Do not celebrate when your enemies fall,
and do not rejoice when they trip up;
18 Or else the Eternal will know and be upset with you,
and He will release them from His anger.
19 Do not worry when evildoers go unpunished
or be jealous when the wicked seem to prosper.
20 Evil people will have no future;
the life of the wicked will be snuffed out like a candle.
21 My son, fear both the Eternal and His anointed ruler.
It is not wise to associate with those rebelling against them
22 Because disaster can arise from either of them without warning,
and who knows what destruction comes down from both of them?
23 The wise also say,
It is not good for a judge to be partial.
24 When a judge says to the guilty, “You are innocent,”
he will be cursed by all people; he will be hated by nations.
25 But those who reprimand evildoers will be celebrated,
and good fortune will come their way.
26 A straight answer is as precious
as a kiss on the lips.
27 Complete your work outside,
and get your fields ready for next season;
after that’s done, build your house.
28 Do not testify against your neighbor without a reason;
do not give misleading testimony.
29 Do not say, “I’ll do to him what he did to me!
I’ll repay him for what he did!”
30 Once I passed by the property of a slacker,
by the vineyard of a foolish man.
31 You should have seen it! The entire field was overgrown with thorns.
Every inch was covered with weeds.
Even the stone wall was crumbling down.
32 I took a moment to take it all in.
The scene taught me:
33 “A little sleep, a little rest,
a few more minutes, a nice little nap.”
34 But soon poverty will be on top of you like a robber,
need will strike you down like a well-armed warrior.
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.