1Do not be envious of evil men, || And do not desire to be with them.
2For their heart meditates [on] destruction, || And their lips speak perverseness.
3A house is built by wisdom, || And it establishes itself by understanding.
4And the inner parts are filled by knowledge, || [With] all precious and pleasant wealth.
5The wise [is] mighty in strength, || And a man of knowledge is strengthening power,
6For you make war for yourself by plans, || And deliverance [is] in a multitude of counselors.
7Wisdom [is] high for a fool, he does not open his mouth in the gate.
8Whoever is devising to do evil, || They call him a master of wicked thoughts.
9The thought of folly [is] sin, || And a scorner [is] an abomination to man.
10You have showed yourself weak in a day of adversity, || Your power is restricted,
11If [from] delivering those taken to death, || And you take back those slipping to the slaughter.
12When you say, “Behold, we did not know this.” Is the Ponderer of hearts not He who understands? And the Keeper of your soul He who knows? And He has rendered to man according to his work.
13My son, eat honey that [is] good, || And the honeycomb [is] sweet to your palate.
14So [is] the knowledge of wisdom to your soul, || If you have found that there is a posterity || And your hope is not cut off.
15Do not lay wait, O wicked one, || At the habitation of the righteous. Do not spoil his resting place.
16For the righteous fall and rise seven [times], || And the wicked stumble in evil.
17Do not rejoice in the falling of your enemy, || And do not let your heart be joyful in his stumbling,
18Lest YHWH see, and [it be] evil in His eyes, || And He has turned His anger from off him.
19Do not fret yourself at evildoers, do not be envious at the wicked,
20For there is not a posterity to the evil, || The lamp of the wicked is extinguished.
21Fear YHWH, my son, and the king, || Do not mix yourself up with changers,
22For their calamity rises suddenly, || And the ruin of them both—who knows!
23These are also for the wise: [It] is not good to discern faces in judgment.
24Whoever is saying to the wicked, “You [are] righteous,” || Peoples execrate him—nations abhor him.
25And it is pleasant to those reproving, || And a good blessing comes on them.
26He who is returning straightforward words kisses lips.
27Prepare your work in an out-place, || And make it ready in the field—go afterward, || Then you have built your house.
28Do not be a witness against your neighbor for nothing, || Or you have enticed with your lips.
29Do not say, “As he did to me, so I do to him, || I render to each according to his work.”
30I passed by near the field of a slothful man, || And near the vineyard of a man lacking heart.
31And behold, it has gone up—all of it—thorns! Nettles have covered its face, || And its stone wall has been broken down.
32And I see—I set my heart, || I have seen—I have received instruction,
33A little sleep—a little slumber—A little folding of the hands to lie down.
34And your poverty has come [as] a traveler, || And your want as an armed man!