| 1 | Be not envious of evil men, And desire not to be with them. |
| 2 | For destruction doth their heart meditate, And perverseness do their lips speak. |
| 3 | By wisdom is a house builded, And by understanding it establisheth itself. |
| 4 | And by knowledge the inner parts are filled, [With] all precious and pleasant wealth. |
| 5 | Mighty [is] the wise in strength, And a man of knowledge is strengthening power, |
| 6 | For by plans thou makest for thyself war, And deliverance [is] in a multitude of counsellors. |
| 7 | Wisdom [is] high for a fool, In the gate he openeth not his mouth. |
| 8 | Whoso is devising to do evil, Him they call a master of wicked thoughts. |
| 9 | The thought of folly [is] sin, And an abomination to man [is] a scorner. |
| 10 | Thou hast shewed thyself weak in a day of adversity, Straitened is thy power, |
| 11 | If [from] delivering those taken to death, And those slipping to the slaughter -- thou keepest back. |
| 12 | When thou sayest, `Lo, we knew not this.` Is not the Ponderer of hearts He who understandeth? And the Keeper of thy soul He who knoweth? And He hath rendered to man according to his work. |
| 13 | Eat my son, honey that [is] good, And the honeycomb -- sweet to thy palate. |
| 14 | So [is] the knowledge of wisdom to thy soul, If thou hast found that there is a posterity And thy hope is not cut off. |
| 15 | Lay not wait, O wicked one, At the habitation of the righteous. Do not spoil his resting-place. |
| 16 | For seven [times] doth the righteous fall and rise, And the wicked stumble in evil. |
| 17 | In the falling of thine enemy rejoice not, And in his stumbling let not thy heart be joyful, |
| 18 | Lest Jehovah see, and [it be] evil in His eyes, And He hath turned from off him His anger. |
| 19 | Fret not thyself at evil doers, Be not envious at the wicked, |
| 20 | For there is not a posterity to the evil, The lamp of the wicked is extinguished. |
| 21 | Fear Jehovah, my son, and the king, With changers mix not up thyself, |
| 22 | For suddenly doth their calamity rise, And the ruin of them both -- who knoweth! |
| 23 | These also are for the wise: -- To discern faces in judgment is not good. |
| 24 | Whoso is saying to the wicked, `Thou [art] righteous,` Peoples execrate him -- nations abhor him. |
| 25 | And to those reproving it is pleasant, And on them cometh a good blessing. |
| 26 | Lips he kisseth who is returning straightforward words. |
| 27 | Prepare in an out-place thy work, And make it ready in the field -- go afterwards, Then thou hast built thy house. |
| 28 | Be not a witness for nought against thy neighbour, Or thou hast enticed with thy lips. |
| 29 | Say not, `As he did to me, so I do to him, I render to each according to his work.` |
| 30 | Near the field of a slothful man I passed by, And near the vineyard of a man lacking heart. |
| 31 | And lo, it hath gone up -- all of it -- thorns! Covered its face have nettles, And its stone wall hath been broken down. |
| 32 | And I see -- I -- I do set my heart, I have seen -- I have received instruction, |
| 33 | A little sleep -- a little slumber -- A little folding of the hands to lie down. |
| 34 | And thy poverty hath come [as] a traveller, And thy want as an armed man! |
