Proverbs 24 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

Don't envy violent people or wish you could be part of their world,

because their minds are always scheming up destruction, and their words stir up nothing but trouble.

A house is built by wisdom, and it's made strong through understanding.

Through knowledge its rooms are filled with every kind of rare and beautiful treasure.

A wise person is strong, and someone with knowledge grows ever more powerful.

Because you need wise guidance to wage war, and victory comes from having many advisors.

Wisdom is beyond the reach of a fool — when the leaders gather at the gate, he has nothing to contribute.

Anyone who keeps plotting harmful schemes earns a reputation as a troublemaker.

The scheme of a fool is failure itself, and everyone despises someone who mocks others.

If you fall apart on a hard day, your strength was never that great to begin with.

Rescue those who are being dragged away to death; hold back those stumbling toward slaughter.

If you say, "We didn't know about this" — doesn't the one who weighs every heart see the truth? Doesn't the one who guards your life know? And won't he pay everyone back for what they've actually done?

My son, eat honey — it is good. Let the raw honeycomb be sweet on your tongue.

Know that wisdom is like that for your soul — if you find it, there is a future for you, and your hope will not be cut short.

Don't lurk like a criminal near the home of a just person. Don't attack where they rest.

Because a just person falls seven times and gets back up, but those who cause harm are brought down by disaster for good.

Don't celebrate when your enemy falls, and don't let your heart be glad when they stumble,

or Yahweh will see it and be displeased, and he'll turn his anger away from them.

Don't get worked up over evildoers, and don't envy those who cause harm,

because there is no future for someone who causes harm — the lamp of those who do wrong will be snuffed out.

My son, honor Yahweh and the king, and don't get involved with people who want to overthrow everything,

because disaster from both will come suddenly — and who knows what ruin either of them can unleash?

These also come from the wise: Showing favoritism in judgment is never a good thing.

Whoever tells a guilty person, "You're innocent" — whole nations will curse him, and peoples will denounce him.

But it goes well for those who convict the guilty — good things will come their way like a downpour.

An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips.

Get your outdoor work in order, get your fields ready — after that, build your house.

Don't testify against your neighbor for no reason — would you really use your words to deceive?

Don't say, "I'll do to him what he did to me — I'll pay him back for what he's done."

I walked by the field of a lazy person, past the vineyard of someone with no sense.

And look — thorns had taken over everything. Weeds covered the ground, and the stone wall was crumbling.

I looked at it and took it to heart. I saw it and learned a lesson:

"A little more sleep, a little more rest, a little more folding the hands to relax" —

and poverty will come at you like a bandit, and need will hit you like an armed attacker.