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Proverbs 24 NIV

« Saying 20

1. Do not envy the wicked, do not desire their company;

Saying 21

2. for their hearts plot violence, and their lips talk about making trouble.

3. By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established;

Saying 22

4. through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures.

5. The wise prevail through great power, and those who have knowledge muster their strength.

Saying 23

6. Surely you need guidance to wage war, and victory is won through many advisers.

Saying 24

7. Wisdom is too high for fools; in the assembly at the gate they must not open their mouths.

8. Whoever plots evil will be known as a schemer.

Saying 25

9. The schemes of folly are sin, and people detest a mocker.

10. If you falter in a time of trouble, how small is your strength!

11. Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter.

Saying 26

12. If you say, “But we knew nothing about this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay everyone according to what they have done?

13. Eat honey, my son, for it is good; honey from the comb is sweet to your taste.

Saying 27

14. Know also that wisdom is like honey for you: If you find it, there is a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.

15. Do not lurk like a thief near the house of the righteous, do not plunder their dwelling place;

Saying 28

16. for though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again, but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes.

17. Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice,

Saying 29

18. or the Lord will see and disapprove and turn his wrath away from them.

19. Do not fret because of evildoers or be envious of the wicked,

Saying 30

20. for the evildoer has no future hope, and the lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out.

21. Fear the Lord and the king, my son, and do not join with rebellious officials,

Further Sayings of the Wise

22. for those two will send sudden destruction on them, and who knows what calamities they can bring?

23. These also are sayings of the wise: To show partiality in judging is not good:

24. Whoever says to the guilty, “You are innocent,” will be cursed by peoples and denounced by nations.

25. But it will go well with those who convict the guilty, and rich blessing will come on them.

26. An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips.

27. Put your outdoor work in order and get your fields ready; after that, build your house.

28. Do not testify against your neighbor without cause— would you use your lips to mislead?

29. Do not say, “I’ll do to them as they have done to me; I’ll pay them back for what they did.”

30. I went past the field of a sluggard, past the vineyard of someone who has no sense;

31. thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall was in ruins.

32. I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw:

33. A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—

34. and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man.

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