Sayings of the Wise: Practical Moral Instruction (part 2)
Proverbs 23:32-24:34
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Chapter 23
32Its latter end is like a serpent that bites, and like vipers it spreads out.33Your eyes will see foreign things, and your heart will speak perversities.34You will be like one lying in the heart of the sea, like one lying on the top of the mast.35"They have beaten me—they have established me—though I have not been cultically unclean; they have beaten me—though I have not known. When will I awake? I will add, I will seek it still."
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Chapter 24
1Do not envy men of moral evil, and do not desire to be with them.2for their heart will mutter in their breast and their lips will speak toil.3By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established.4And by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant wealth.5A wise man is strong, and a man of knowledge strengthens strength.6For by strategic counsels you shall make warfare for yourself, and salvation is in an abundance of counsel.7Wisdom is too high for a fool; he does not open his mouth in the gate for wisdom.8They will call him a plotter, the one who does moral evil for himself, the owner of moral outrages.9The plotting of folly is sin and an abomination to Adam, a mocker.10If you let your hand grow slack on a day of distress, your strength is narrow.11Deliver those taken to death and those stumbling to slaughter if you grow dark.12If you say, "Behold, we did not know this"—does not he who weighs hearts understand it? And he who guards your nephesh—he knows; and he returns to man according to his deed.13Eat honey, my son, for it is good, and the dripping honeycomb is sweet to your wisdom.14So know wisdom for your soul; if you find it, then there is an end, and your hope will not be cut off.15Do not lie in wait, wicked one, for the dwelling of the righteous; do not plunder his lying place.16For a righteous man falls seven times and rises, and the wicked stumble in evil.17Do not rejoice in your enemy's falling, and do not let your heart exult in his stumbling.18lest the LORD see it and it be evil in his eyes, and he turn back his anger from upon him.19Do not fret over evildoers; do not envy the wicked.20For there will not be an end for the evil; the lamp of the wicked will be extinguished.21Fear the LORD, my son and king; do not mix in with changers.22For suddenly their disaster will arise and their ruin, both of them—who knows?23Also these things to the wise: Recognize faces in legal judgment—this is not good.24He says to the wicked, "You are righteous." Peoples will spurn him; peoples will be indignant at him.25And it will be pleasant to those who rebuke it, and a blessing of good will will come on them.26He kisses the lips that return established words.27Prepare your outside work and make it fit for the field; afterward, build your house.28Do not be a witness without cause against your neighbor, and do not deceive with your lips.29Do not say, "As he did to me, so I will do to him; I will repay the man according to his deed."30I passed by the field of a lazy man and by the vineyard of a man lacking heart.31And behold, it had all grown up with weeds. Thorns covered it, and its stone boundary wall was broken down.32And I had a prophetic vision; I set my heart to it. I saw and took discipline.33A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to lie down.34and your poverty will come walking about and your need like a man shield.