Don't be like bad people
1Don't be jealous of bad people
and don't desire to be with them.
2They always think about
how they can rob and hurt people
and make trouble for other people
and make them suffer.
3Someone who has wisdom
can build a house.
If he is wise he will build
a strong house that will stand
and not fall over.
4If he knows how to do that,
he can fill his rooms with beautiful treasures.
5Wise people are strong and
those who have knowledge of life
are even stronger.
6Before you want to start a war,
ask for the advice of wise advisors.
If you get a lot of good advice,
you will win the war.
7A fool does not understand wisdom.
When leaders come together to talk,
a fool doesn't know what to say.
8When sinners make plans to do wrong,
the people know that they want to make trouble.
9The plans that a fool makes
are always sinful.
People hate a person who always mocks wisdom.
10If you are discouraged and
don't know what to do when trouble comes,
then you are not strong enough.
11You must save the people
who have been caught and are going to die,
and help the people who don't have long to live.
12Don't say: ‘We have not seen
those people who have been caught,’
because God knows what you are thinking.
He knows what you have done
and He will do the same to you
as you have done to other people.
13My child, eat honey
because it is good for you. Let it flow
from the honeycomb into your mouth.
14In the same way,
wisdom is also good to your spirit.
If you have found wisdom,
all will be well with you.
You will live and you will have hope.
15Don't be like sinful people
who wait at the houses
of righteous people to rob them.
16Because people who live in the right way
will stand up every time
that they fall down or have trouble,
but when sinful people have trouble
and fall, they are destroyed.
17Don't rejoice when your enemy falls,
and don't be happy when he is ruined,
18because the Lord will see it
and He will not be pleased.
He will stop being angry with your enemy
and He will be upset with you.
19Don't be worried or upset
about sinful people,
and don't be jealous of the things they have
20because a bad person
has nothing to hope for.
The lives of sinful people are like
a flame that goes out and dies.
21My child, you must serve the Lord
and respect your king.
Don't go with people
who rebel_against them,
22because God and the king
will punish them quickly,
and they will be destroyed.
When you judge
23These proverbs also come from wise people:
When you judge people in court,
you must be fair.
You may not help only one person
and not the other one.
24If you say a guilty person is innocent,
all the people will curse you
and everyone will hate you.
25But if you punish the bad and sinful people,
it will be well with you
and God will bless you.
26It is good when someone
is honest when he answers.
It is as good as a kiss on the lips.
27You must first do all your work
outside and in your wheat_fields,
and then you can start building your house.
28Don't be a witness against someone
if he has done nothing wrong
and don't say things that are false.
29Don't say: ‘I will do to him
what he has done to me.
I will make him suffer
for the things that he did to me.’
Lazy people will become poor
30I walked past the field
of a lazy man and I went past
the vineyard of a fool.
31I saw that his field was
full of thorns and bushes
and the stone wall had fallen over.
32I thought about what I had seen
and I learned this lesson:
33If you always want to
sleep a little more, close your eyes
and rest or fold your hands,
34then you will become poor
like someone who walks around
and does not work,
and you will become hungry like a beggar.
