Beginning
Saying 20
24 Do not want what evil people have.
Don’t long to be with them.
2 In their hearts they plan to hurt others.
With their lips they talk about making trouble.
Saying 21
3 By wisdom a house is built.
Through understanding it is made secure.
4 Through knowledge its rooms are filled
with priceless and beautiful things.
Saying 22
5 Wise people have success by means of great power.
Those who have knowledge gather strength.
6 If you go to war, you surely need guidance.
If you want to win, you need many good advisers.
Saying 23
7 Wisdom is too high for foolish people.
They shouldn’t speak when people meet at the city gate to conduct business.
Saying 24
8 Anyone who thinks up sinful things to do
will be known as one who plans evil.
9 Foolish plans are sinful.
People hate those who make fun of others.
Saying 25
10 If you grow weak when trouble comes,
your strength is very small!
11 Save those who are being led away to death.
Hold back those who are about to be killed.
12 Don’t say, “But we didn’t know anything about this.”
Doesn’t the God who knows what you are thinking see it?
Doesn’t the God who guards your life know it?
He will pay back everyone for what they have done.
Saying 26
13 Eat honey, my son, because it is good.
Honey from a honeycomb has a sweet taste.
14 I want you to know that wisdom is like honey for you.
If you find it, there is hope for you tomorrow.
So your hope will not be cut off.
Saying 27
15 Don’t hide and wait like a burglar near a godly person’s house.
Don’t rob their home.
16 Even if godly people fall down seven times, they always get up.
But those who are evil trip and fall when trouble comes.
Saying 28
17 Don’t be happy when your enemy falls.
When he trips, don’t let your heart be glad.
18 The Lord will see it, but he won’t be pleased.
He might turn his anger away from your enemy.
Saying 29
19 Don’t be upset because of evil people.
Don’t long for what sinners have.
20 Tomorrow evil people won’t have any hope.
The lamps of sinners will be blown out.
Saying 30
21 My son, have respect for the Lord and the king.
Don’t join with officials who disobey them.
22 The Lord and the king will suddenly destroy them.
Who knows what trouble those two can bring?
More Sayings of Wise People
23 Here are more sayings of wise people.
Taking sides in court is not good.
24 A curse will fall on those who say the guilty are not guilty.
Nations will ask for bad things to happen to them.
People will speak against them.
25 But it will go well with those who sentence guilty people.
Rich blessings will come to them.
26 An honest answer
is like a kiss on the lips.
27 Put your outdoor work in order.
Get your fields ready.
After that, build your house.
28 Don’t be a witness against your neighbor for no reason.
Would you use your lips to tell lies?
29 Don’t say, “I’ll do to them what they have done to me.
I’ll get even with them for what they did.”
30 I went past the field of someone who didn’t want to work.
I went past the vineyard of someone who didn’t have any sense.
31 Thorns had grown up everywhere.
The ground was covered with weeds.
The stone wall had fallen down.
32 I applied my heart to what I observed.
I learned a lesson from what I saw.
33 You might sleep a little or take a little nap.
You might even fold your hands and rest.
34 Then you would be poor, as if someone had robbed you.
You would have little, as if someone had stolen from you.
More Proverbs of Solomon
25 These are more proverbs of Solomon. They were gathered together by the men of Hezekiah, the king of Judah.
2 When God hides a matter, he gets glory.
When kings figure out a matter, they get glory.
3 The heavens are high and the earth is deep.
In the same way, the minds of kings are impossible to figure out.
4 Remove the scum from the silver.
Then the master worker can make something out of it.
5 Remove ungodly officials from where the king is.
Then the king can make his throne secure because of the godliness around him.
6 Don’t brag in front of the king.
Don’t claim a place among his great men.
7 Let the king say to you, “Come up here.”
That’s better than for him to shame you in front of his nobles.
What you have seen with your own eyes
8 don’t bring too quickly to court.
What will you do in the end
if your neighbor puts you to shame?
9 If you take your neighbor to court,
don’t tell others any secrets you promised to keep.
10 If you do, someone might hear it and put you to shame.
And the charge against you will stand.
11 The right ruling at the right time
is like golden apples in silver jewelry.
12 A wise judge’s warning to a listening ear
is like a gold earring or jewelry made of fine gold.
13 A messenger trusted by the one who sends him
is like a drink cooled by snow at harvest time.
He renews the spirit of his master.
14 A person who brags about gifts never given
is like wind and clouds that don’t produce rain.
15 If you are patient, you can win an official over to your side.
And gentle words can break a bone.
16 If you find honey, eat just enough.
If you eat too much of it, you will throw up.
17 Don’t go to your neighbor’s home very often.
If they see too much of you, they will hate you.
18 A person who is a false witness against a neighbor
is like a club, a sword or a sharp arrow.
19 Trusting someone who is not faithful when trouble comes
is like a broken tooth or a disabled foot.
20 You may sing songs to a troubled heart.
But that’s like taking a coat away on a cold day.
It’s like pouring vinegar on a wound.
21 If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat.
If he is thirsty, give him water to drink.
22 By doing these things, you will pile up burning coals on his head.
And the Lord will reward you.
23 Like a north wind that brings rain you didn’t expect
is a crafty tongue that brings looks of shock.
24 It is better to live on a corner of a roof
than to share a house with a nagging wife.
25 Hearing good news from a land far away
is like drinking cold water when you are tired.
26 Sometimes godly people give in to those who are evil.
Then they become like a muddy spring of water or a polluted well.
27 It isn’t good for you to eat too much honey.
And you shouldn’t try to search out matters too deep for you.
28 A person without self-control
is like a city whose walls are broken through.
26 It isn’t proper to honor a foolish person.
That’s like having snow in summer or rain at harvest time.
2 A curse given for no reason is like a wandering bird or a flying sparrow.
It doesn’t go anywhere.
3 A whip is for a horse, and a harness is for a donkey.
And a beating is for the backs of foolish people.
4 Don’t answer a foolish person in keeping with their foolish acts.
If you do, you yourself will be just like them.
5 Answer a foolish person in keeping with their foolish acts.
If you do not, they will be wise in their own eyes.
6 Sending a message in the hand of a foolish person
is like cutting off your feet or drinking poison.
7 A proverb in the mouth of a foolish person
is like disabled legs that are useless.
8 Giving honor to a foolish person
is like tying a stone in a slingshot.
9 A proverb in the mouth of a foolish person
is like a thorn in the hand of someone who is drunk.
10 Anyone who hires a foolish person or someone who is passing by
is like a person who shoots arrows at just anybody.
11 Foolish people who do the same foolish things again
are like a dog that returns to where it has thrown up.
12 Do you see a person who is wise in their own eyes?
There is more hope for a foolish person than for them.
13 A person who doesn’t want to work says, “There’s a lion in the road!
There’s an angry lion wandering in the streets!”
14 A person who doesn’t want to work turns over in bed
just like a door that swings back and forth.
15 A person who doesn’t want to work leaves his hand in his plate.
He acts as if he is too tired to bring his hand back up to his mouth.
16 A person who doesn’t want to work is wiser in his own eyes
than seven people who give careful answers.
17 Don’t be quick to get mixed up in someone else’s fight.
That’s like grabbing a stray dog by its ears.
18 Suppose a crazy person shoots
flaming arrows that can kill.
19 Someone who lies to their neighbor
and says, “I was only joking!” is just like that crazy person.
20 If you don’t have wood, your fire goes out.
If you don’t talk about others, arguing dies down.
21 Coal glows, and wood burns.
And a person who argues stirs up conflict.
22 The words of anyone who talks about others are like tasty bites of food.
They go deep down inside you.
23 Warm words that come from an evil heart
are like a shiny coating on a clay pot.
24 Enemies use their words as a mask.
They hide their evil plans in their hearts.
25 Even though what they say can be charming, don’t believe them.
That’s because seven things God hates fill that person’s heart.
26 Their hatred can be hidden by lies.
But their evil plans will be shown to everyone.
27 Whoever digs a pit will fall into it.
If someone rolls a big stone, it will roll back on them.
28 A tongue that tells lies hates the people it hurts.
And words that seem to praise you destroy you.
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