24:1. Seek not to be like evil men, neither desire to be with them:
24:2. Because their mind studieth robberies, and their lips speak
deceits.
24:3. By wisdom the house shall be built, and by prudence it shall be
strengthened.
24:4. By instruction the storerooms shall be filled with all precious
and most beautiful wealth.
24:5. A wise man is strong: and a knowing man, stout and valiant.
24:6. Because war is managed by due ordering: and there shall be safety
where there are many counsels.
24:7. Wisdom is too high for a fool; in the gate he shall not open his
mouth.
24:8. He that deviseth to do evils, shall be called a fool.
24:9. The thought of a fool is sin: and the detractor is the
abomination of men.
24:10. If thou lose hope, being weary in the day of distress, thy
strength shall be diminished.
24:11. Deliver them that are led to death: and those that are drawn to
death, forbear not to deliver.
24:12. If thou say: I have not strength enough: he that seeth into the
heart, he understandeth, and nothing deceiveth the keeper of thy soul,
and he shall render to a man according to his works.
24:13. Eat honey, my son, because it is good, and the honeycomb most
sweet to thy throat.
24:14. So also is the doctrine of wisdom to thy soul: which when thou
hast found, thou shalt have hope in the end, and thy hope shall not
perish.
24:15. Lie not in wait, nor seek after wickedness in the house of the
just, nor spoil his rest.
24:16. For a just man shall fall seven times, and shall rise again: but
the wicked shall fall down into evil.
24:17. When thy enemy shall fall, be not glad, and in his ruin let not
thy heart rejoice:
24:18. Lest the Lord see, and it displease him, and he turn away his
wrath from him.
24:19. Contend not with the wicked, nor seek to be like the ungodly.
24:20. For evil men have no hope of things to come, and the lamp of the
wicked shall be put out.
24:21. My son, fear the Lord, and the king: and have nothing to do with
detractors.
24:22. For their destruction shall rise suddenly: and who knoweth the
ruin of both?
24:23. These things also to the wise: It is not good to have respect to
persons in judgment.
24:24. They that say to the wicked man: Thou art just: shall be cursed
by the people, and the tribes shall abhor them.
24:25. They that rebuke him shall be praised: and a blessing shall come
upon them.
24:26. He shall kiss the lips, who answereth right words.
24:27. Prepare thy work without, and diligently till thy ground: that
afterward thou mayst build thy house.
24:28. Be not witness without cause against thy neighbour: and deceive
not any man with thy lips.
24:29. Say not: I will do to him as he hath done to me: I will render
to every one according to his work.
24:30. I passed by the field of the slothful man, and by the vineyard
of the foolish man:
24:31. And behold it was all filled with nettles, and thorns had
covered the face thereof, and the stone wall was broken down.
24:32. Which when I had seen, I laid it up in my heart, and by the
example I received instruction.
24:33. Thou wilt sleep a little, said I, thou wilt slumber a little,
thou wilt fold thy hands a little to rest.
24:34. And poverty shall come to thee as a runner, and beggary as an
armed man.