Be not thou envious against evil men;
Neither desire to be with them:
For their heart studieth oppression,
And their lips talk of mischief.
Through wisdom is a house builded;
And by understanding it is established;
And by knowledge are the chambers filled
With all precious and pleasant riches.
A wise man {Hebrew: is in strength.}is strong;
Yea, a man of knowledge {Hebrew: strengtheneth might.}increaseth might.
For by wise guidance thou shalt make thy war;
And in the multitude of counsellors there is {Or, victory}safety.
Wisdom is too high for a fool:
He openeth not his mouth in the gate.
He that deviseth to do evil,
Men shall call him a mischief-maker.
The thought of foolishness is sin;
And the scoffer is an abomination to men.
If thou faint in the day of adversity,
Thy strength is small.
Deliver them that are carried away unto death,
And those that are {Hebrew: tottering to the slaughter.}ready to be slain {Or, forbear thou not to deliver}see that thou hold back.
If thou sayest, Behold, we knew not {Or, this man}this;
Doth not he that weigheth the hearts consider it?
And he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it?
And shall not he render to every man according to his work?
My son, eat thou honey, for it is good;
And the droppings of the honeycomb, which are sweet to thy taste:
So shalt thou know wisdom to be unto thy soul;
If thou hast found it, then shall there be a reward,
And thy hope shall not be cut off.
Lay not wait, {Or, as a wicked man}O wicked man, against the {Or, pasture}habitation of the righteous;
Destroy not his {Or, fold}resting-place:
For a righteous man falleth seven times, and riseth up again;
But the wicked are overthrown by calamity.
Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth,
And let not thy heart be glad when he is overthrown;
Lest Jehovah see it, and it displease him,
And he turn away his wrath from him.
Fret not thyself because of evil-doers;
Neither be thou envious at the wicked:
For there shall be no reward to the evil man;
The lamp of the wicked shall be put out.
My son, fear thou Jehovah and the king;
And company not with them that are given to change:
For their calamity shall rise suddenly;
And the destruction {Or, of their years}from them both, who knoweth it?
These also are sayings of the wise.
To have respect of persons in judgment is not good.
He that saith unto the wicked,
Thou art righteous,
Peoples shall curse him, nations shall abhor him;
But to them that rebuke him shall be delight,
And a good blessing shall come upon them.
He {Or, kisseth with the lips}kisseth the lips
Who giveth a right answer.
Prepare thy work without,
And make it ready for thee in the field;
And afterwards build thy house.
Be not a witness against thy neighbor without cause;
{Hebrew: And wouldest thou deceive with thy lips?}And deceive not with thy lips.
Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me;
I will render to the man according to his work.
I went by the field of the sluggard,
And by the vineyard of the man void of understanding;
And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns,
The face thereof was covered with {Or, wild vetches}nettles,
And the stone wall thereof was broken down.
Then I beheld, and considered well;
I saw, and received instruction:
Yet a little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to sleep;
So shall thy poverty come as a robber,
And thy want as an armed man.
Querverweise zu Sprüche 24,30 Spr 24,30
Go to the ant, thou sluggard;Consider her ways, and be wise:
Which having no {Or, judge}chief,Overseer, or ruler,
Provideth her bread in the summer,And gathereth her food in the harvest.
How long wilt thou {Hebrew: lie down.}sleep, O sluggard?When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?
Yet a little sleep, a little slumber,A little folding of the hands to {Hebrew: lie down.}sleep:
So shall thy poverty come as a {Or, rover}robber,And thy want as {Hebrew: a man with a shield.}an armed man.
A worthless person, a man of iniquity,Is he that walketh with a perverse mouth;
That winketh with his eyes, that {Or, shuffleth}speaketh with his feet,That {Or, teacheth with}maketh signs with his fingers;
In whose heart is perverseness,Who deviseth evil continually,Who {Hebrew: letteth loose.}soweth discord.
Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly;On a sudden shall he be broken, and that without remedy.
There are six things which Jehovah hateth;Yea, seven which are an abomination {Hebrew: of his soul.}unto him:
Haughty eyes, a lying tongue,And hands that shed innocent blood;
A heart that deviseth wicked purposes,Feet that are swift in running to mischief,
A false witness that {Hebrew: breatheth out.}uttereth lies,And he that {Hebrew: letteth loose.}soweth discord among brethren.
In the lips of him that hath discernment wisdom is found;But a rod is for the back of him that is void of {Hebrew: heart.}understanding.
According as I have seen, they that plow iniquity,And sow {Or, mischief}trouble, reap the same.
He that tilleth his land shall have plenty of bread;But he that followeth after {Or, vain things}vain persons is void of understanding.
Lo this, we have searched it, so it is;Hear it, and know thou it {Hebrew: for thyself.}for thy good.
I will show thee, hear thou me;And that which I have seen I will declare
I have been young, and now am old;Yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken,Nor his seed begging bread.
The upright shall see it, and be glad;And all iniquity shall stop her mouth.
Then I returned and saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and, behold, the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter.
Wherefore I praised the dead that have been long dead more than the living that are yet alive;
yea, {Or, better than they both is he that &c.}better than them both did I esteem him that hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
Then I saw all labor and every {Or, successful}skilful work, that {Or, it cometh of a man's rivalry with his neighbor}for this a man is envied of his neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.
The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own flesh.
Better is a handful, {Or, of}with quietness, than two handfuls {Or, of}with labor and striving after wind.
Then I returned and saw vanity under the sun.
There is one that is alone, and he hath not a second; yea, he hath neither son nor brother; yet is there no end of all his labor, neither are his eyes satisfied with riches. For whom then, saith he, do I labor, and deprive my soul of good? This also is vanity, yea, it is a sore travail.
All this have I seen in my days of vanity: there is a righteous man that perisheth in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man that prolongeth his life in his evil-doing.
All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: {Or, what time one man had &c.}there is a time wherein one man hath power over another {Or, to his own hurt}to his hurt.
So I saw the wicked buried, {Or, who had come and gone away from the holy place; and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done Or, and men came and went &c.}and they came to the grave; and they that had done right went away from the holy place, and were forgotten in the city: this also is vanity.
Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is {Or, emboldened}fully set in them to do evil.