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 24,31 Spr 24,31
And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in {Or, sorrow}toil shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
The fear of Jehovah tendeth to life;And he that hath it shall abide satisfied;He shall not be visited with evil.
Let {Or, thorns}thistles grow instead of wheat,And {Or, noisome weeds}cockle instead of barley.The words of Job are ended.
The sluggard will not plow by reason of the winter; {Or, Therefore when he seeketh in harvest, there shall be nothing}Therefore he shall beg in harvest, and have nothing.
For thus saith Jehovah to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.
The sluggard saith, There is a lion without;I shall be slain in the streets.
And others fell upon the thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked them:
For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty;And drowsiness will clothe a man with rags.
And he that was sown among the thorns, this is he that heareth the word; and the care of the {Or, age}world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.
By slothfulness the {Or, rafters sink}roof sinketh in; and through idleness of the hands the house leaketh.
but if it beareth thorns and thistles, it is rejected and nigh unto a curse; whose end is to be burned.