More Sayings of the Wise

23 These also are sayings of (A)the wise.

(B)Partiality in judging is not good.
24 Whoever (C)says to the wicked, “You are in the right,”
    (D)will be cursed by peoples, abhorred by nations,
25 but those who rebuke the wicked will have delight,
    and a good blessing will come upon them.
26 Whoever gives an honest answer
    kisses the lips.

27 (E)Prepare your work outside;
    get everything ready for yourself in the field,
    and after that build your house.

28 (F)Be not a witness against your neighbor without cause,
    and do not deceive with your lips.
29 Do not say, (G)“I will do to him as he has done to me;
    I will pay the man back for what he has done.”

30 (H)I passed by the field of a sluggard,
    by the vineyard of a man (I)lacking sense,
31 and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns;
    the ground was covered with nettles,
    and its stone (J)wall was broken down.
32 Then I saw and (K)considered it;
    I looked and received instruction.
33 (L)A little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little folding of the hands to rest,
34 and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
    and want like an armed man.

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23 These sayings are also for the wise:
    Partiality[a] in judgment is not good.
24 Whoever says to the guilty, “You are righteous,” the people will curse him;
    the nations will abhor him.
25 But they who rebuke will have delight,
    and upon them blessings of goodness will come.
26 He will kiss the lips,
    he who gives an honest answer.
27 Prepare your work in the street and get it ready for yourself in the field;
    afterward, then[b] you shall build your house.
28 Do not be a witness without cause against your neighbor
    nor deceive with your lips.
29 Do not say, “Just as he has done to me, so shall I do to him;
    I will pay back the man according to his deed.”
30 I passed by the field of a lazy person,
    and over the vineyard of a person lacking sense;[c]
31 and behold, it was overgrown—all of it was covered with thorns, its surface with nettles,
    and its stone wall[d] was broken down.
32 Then I myself saw and my heart[e] considered;
    I looked, and I took hold of instruction:
33 A little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little folding of the hands for rest,
34 and your poverty will come running,
    and your lack like an armed warrior.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 24:23 Literally “acknowledge faces”
  2. Proverbs 24:27 Hebrew “and”
  3. Proverbs 24:30 Literally “heart”
  4. Proverbs 24:31 Literally “a wall of his/its stones”
  5. Proverbs 24:32 Or “mind”