Proverbs 24:23–34

More Sayings of Those Who Are Wise

²³Here are more sayings of those who are wise.

Taking sides in court is not good.

²⁴A curse will fall on those who say the guilty are not guilty.

Nations will call down curses on them.

People will speak against them.

²⁵But it will go well with those who sentence guilty people.

Rich blessings will come to them.

²⁶An honest answer

is like a kiss on the lips.

²⁷Finish your outdoor work.

Get your fields ready.

After that, build your house.

²⁸Don’t give witness against your neighbor without any reason.

Don’t use your lips to tell lies.

²⁹Don’t say, “I’ll do to him what he did to me.

I’ll get even with that man for what he did.”

³⁰I went past the field of someone who didn’t want to work.

I went past the vineyard of a man who didn’t have any sense.

³¹Thorns had grown up everywhere.

The ground was covered with weeds.

The stone wall had fallen down.

³²I applied my heart to what I observed.

I learned a lesson from what I saw.

³³You might sleep a little or take a little nap.

You might even fold your hands and rest.

³⁴Then you would be poor, as if someone had robbed you.

You would have little, as if someone had stolen from you.