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| 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! |