Beginning
More wise thoughts
24 19. Do not be jealous of evil people. Do not try to be friends with them. 2 They only think about how to cause trouble. They only speak to be cruel.
3 20. It is wisdom that helps a man to build a house.[a] The house will have a strong foundation if he understands what is right. 4 Knowledge will help him to fill its rooms with beautiful and valuable things.
5 21. A wise man is better than a brave soldier. If a man learns knowledge, he will become stronger. 6 If you receive good advice before you fight a battle, you will win against your enemy.
7 22. A fool cannot understand wisdom. He has nothing to say when leaders meet.
8 23. If anyone has ideas to do evil things, people will know that he always causes trouble.
9 If you decide to do something foolish, that is a sin. People hate anyone who laughs at others.
10 24. If you stop trying in times of trouble, you are really very weak.
11 25. You should rescue people who are in danger of death. 12 You may say, ‘We did not know what was happening.’ But God knows your thoughts. He carefully watches your life and he knows what you are doing. He will pay back to you whatever you deserve.
13 26. My child, honey is good for you, so eat it. It is sweet on your tongue when you taste it.
14 In the same way, wisdom is also good for you. If you find wisdom, it will help you in life. The things that you hope for in the future will surely happen.
15 27. Do not be like wicked people who attack righteous people. Do not try to rob the homes of honest people. 16 If an honest person falls down seven times, he will still stand up again. But when trouble comes to a wicked person, that is the end of him.
17 28. Do not shout with joy when your enemy falls down. Do not be happy when his foot slips. 18 The Lord will know what you are thinking, and he will not be happy. He may decide not to punish your enemy.
19 29. Do not have trouble in your mind because of evil people. Do not be jealous of them. 20 A wicked person has nothing to hope for in the future. His life will end suddenly.
21 30. My child, respect and obey the Lord, and the king too. Do not be friends with people who turn against them. 22 Both the Lord and the king have the power to give strong punishment. In a moment they can destroy people who turn against them.
More wise thoughts
23 These are more things that wise people have said:
When you judge people, be fair. It is not good to respect some people more than others. 24 A judge must not say to a guilty person, ‘You are not guilty.’ If he does say that, everyone will curse him. People of all nations will say that he is bad. 25 When judges decide to punish a guilty person, they will be happy, because God will bless them.
26 Somebody who gives you an honest answer is your true friend.
27 Finish your work outside and prepare your fields. After that, you can build your house.
28 If you do not know what is true, do not speak against your neighbour in court. Do not deceive people with what you say. 29 Do not say, ‘I will do to him the same thing that he did to me. I will punish him because of what he did.’
30 I walked past the field of a lazy person. And I walked past the vineyard of a stupid person. 31 There were weeds and thorn bushes over all the ground. The wall of stones round the field had fallen down. 32 I looked at this and I thought about it carefully. I learned a lesson from the things that I had seen:
33 You may say, ‘I will have a short sleep. I will rest quietly for a while.’ 34 But while you sleep you will suddenly become poor. You will have nothing, as if someone has robbed you.
More of Solomon's proverbs
25 These are more of Solomon's proverbs.[b] Hezekiah's men wrote them down when Hezekiah was king of Judah.[c]
2 God hides things because he is great. But great kings can explain things.
3 You can never know all the thoughts of a king. They go high above the sky and deep below the earth.
4 If you remove dirt from silver, a worker can use it to make a beautiful thing. 5 In the same way, you should keep wicked people away from the king. Then he will rule in a right way.
6 When you stand in front of the king, do not be proud. Do not stand where the important people stand. 7 Then it will be good if the king says to you, ‘Come and sit up here, near me.’ That would be better than if he sends you away while his officers watch.
8 If you see something bad happen, do not quickly go and tell a judge. Your neighbour may show that you are wrong. Then you will be ashamed. You will not know what to do.
9 If you argue with your neighbour, do not tell his secrets to other people. 10 If you do that, everyone will know about it. Then you will be ashamed for your whole life.
11 A wise word that you speak at the right time is a beautiful thing. It is like a gold apple on a silver plate. 12 When a wise person warns you, that is also a beautiful thing. It is like a gold ear-ring or a gold necklace.
13 When a faithful servant takes a message for his master, his master will have peace in his mind. It will keep him cool, like snow in the middle of summer.
14 Some people promise things, but they never do anything. Those people are like clouds and wind that do not bring any rain.
15 If you are patient, you may make a ruler change his mind. If you speak a quiet word, you can remove a difficult problem.
16 When you find honey, never eat more than you need. If you eat too much, you will become very sick.
17 Do not visit your neighbour's house too often. He may see you too much and he will start to hate you.
18 Some people may tell lies about their neighbour in court. Those people are like dangerous weapons, like sharp swords or arrows.
19 If you are in trouble and you trust someone who is not honest, it will not help you. He will be as useless as a bad tooth or a broken leg.
20 If you sing to a very sad man to make him happy, it only gives him more pain. It is like you are taking away his coat on a cold day, or you are putting vinegar on his wound.
21 If your enemy is hungry, give him something to eat. If he is thirsty, give him some water to drink. 22 If you help him, he will become ashamed, and the Lord will bless you with good things.
23 When the wind blows from the north, it brings rain. In the same way, when somebody tells other people's secrets, it brings anger.
24 It is better to live on the roof of your house than to live with a wife who always argues.
25 If you receive good news from a far away country, it is like cool water when you are tired and thirsty.
26 If you put dirt in a well, its good water becomes bad. It is the same with a righteous person who agrees to do wicked things.
27 It is bad for you to eat too much honey. If you always want people to praise you, it is also bad for you.
28 Somebody who cannot control his anger is in danger. He is like a city that no longer has a strong wall round it.
26 It is not right to give honour to a fool.
It is as silly as snow that falls in summer,
or rain that falls at the time of harvest.
2 If someone curses you for no reason, it will not stay with you.
Their words will be like birds that never stop to rest.
3 There are right ways to punish a horse or a donkey.
The right way to punish a fool is to beat him with a stick.
4 If someone asks you a silly question, do not give him a silly answer.
Be careful that you do not become as silly as he is.
5 If someone asks you a silly question, give him a silly answer.
Then he will know that he is not as wise as he thinks he is.[d]
6 If you send a message with a fool, there will be trouble.
It would be better to cut off your own feet!
7 A lame person cannot use his legs properly.
A fool cannot use a proverb properly.
8 If you tie a stone into a sling, it will be a useless weapon.
It is also useless to give honour to a fool.
9 A fool who speaks a proverb is like a drunk person with a thorn in his finger.
He does not know what to do with it.
10 A soldier who shoots his arrows everywhere is useless.
It is the same if you ask a stupid person to do work for you.
11 A sick dog goes back to eat what it could not keep in its stomach.
A fool goes back and makes the same mistakes again.
12 Some men think that they are already wise.
A fool is more likely to learn something than they are.
13 A lazy person does not go out of his house.
He says, ‘There is a lion outside in the street!’
14 A lazy person turns over in his bed,
like a door that continues to open and close.
15 A lazy person pushes his hand into his bowl of food.
But then he is too tired to lift his hand up to his mouth.
16 A lazy person thinks that he is very wise.
He thinks that he is wiser than seven people who can answer questions well.
17 When strangers are arguing, only a fool joins the argument.
It would be better if he took hold of a wild dog's ears!
18 A crazy man may shoot sharp arrows to kill people.
19 If a person deceives his friend and then laughs about it,
he is as bad as that crazy person.
20 Without wood, a fire stops burning.
When people do not tell their friends' secrets, quarrels stop.
21 But when a fire has wood, it continues to burn.
When people love to quarrel, there will always be arguments.
22 We love to hear other people's secrets.
They seem like good food that we can really enjoy.
23 When a hypocrite says nice words,
that is like a cheap pot with silver paint.
24 A hypocrite can say nice things to hide his thoughts,
but he is still thinking about ways to hurt people.
25 Do not believe him when he speaks kind words.
His mind is still full of evil things.
26 He may not seem to hate people, but he is telling lies.
In a public meeting, everyone will recognize his sins.
27 If a man digs a deep hole as a trap, he will fall into it himself.
If a man pushes a stone to fall on someone, it will fall back on him.
28 If you tell lies, it shows that you hate other people.
If you deceive people with sweet words, you will destroy them.
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