Don't Be Envious of Evil Men

1Be not envious of evil men, And desire not to be with them.

2For destruction doth their heart meditate, And perverseness do their lips speak.

3By wisdom is a house builded, And by understanding it establisheth itself.

4And by knowledge the inner parts are filled, [With] all precious and pleasant wealth.

5Mighty [is] the wise in strength, And a man of knowledge is strengthening power,

6For by plans thou makest for thyself war, And deliverance [is] in a multitude of counsellors.

7Wisdom [is] high for a fool, In the gate he openeth not his mouth.

8Whoso is devising to do evil, Him they call a master of wicked thoughts.

9The thought of folly [is] sin, And an abomination to man [is] a scorner.

10Thou hast shewed thyself weak in a day of adversity, Straitened is thy power,

11If [from] delivering those taken to death, And those slipping to the slaughter — thou keepest back.

12When 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.

13Eat my son, honey that [is] good, And the honeycomb — sweet to thy palate.

14So [is] the knowledge of wisdom to thy soul, If thou hast found that there is a posterity And thy hope is not cut off.

15Lay not wait, O wicked one, At the habitation of the righteous. Do not spoil his resting-place.

16For seven [times] doth the righteous fall and rise, And the wicked stumble in evil.

17In the falling of thine enemy rejoice not, And in his stumbling let not thy heart be joyful,

18Lest Jehovah see, and [it be] evil in His eyes, And He hath turned from off him His anger.

19Fret not thyself at evil doers, Be not envious at the wicked,

20For there is not a posterity to the evil, The lamp of the wicked is extinguished.

21Fear Jehovah, my son, and the king, With changers mix not up thyself,

22For suddenly doth their calamity rise, And the ruin of them both — who knoweth!

Further Sayings of the Wise

23These also are for the wise: — To discern faces in judgment is not good.

24Whoso is saying to the wicked, ‘Thou [art] righteous,’ Peoples execrate him — nations abhor him.

25And to those reproving it is pleasant, And on them cometh a good blessing.

26Lips he kisseth who is returning straightforward words.

27Prepare in an out-place thy work, And make it ready in the field — go afterwards, Then thou hast built thy house.

28Be not a witness for nought against thy neighbour, Or thou hast enticed with thy lips.

29Say not, ‘As he did to me, so I do to him, I render to each according to his work.’

30Near the field of a slothful man I passed by, And near the vineyard of a man lacking heart.

31And lo, it hath gone up — all of it — thorns! Covered its face have nettles, And its stone wall hath been broken down.

32And I see — I — I do set my heart, I have seen — I have received instruction,

33A little sleep — a little slumber — A little folding of the hands to lie down.

34And thy poverty hath come [as] a traveller, And thy want as an armed man!