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24:1  Don’t envy evil people or ·try to be friends [L long to be] with them.
24:2  Their ·minds [L hearts] are ·always planning [focused/fixated on] violence, and ·they always [L their lips] talk about making trouble [Ps. 37; 73].
24:3  ·It takes wisdom to have a good family [L By wisdom a house is built], and ·it takes understanding to make it strong [L by understanding it is established].
24:4  ·It takes knowledge to fill a home [L By knowledge rooms are filled] with rare and beautiful treasures [31:10–31].
24:5  Wise people ·have great power [or are mightier than strong people], and those with knowledge ·have [or than those with] great strength.
24:6  So you need ·advice [guidance] when you go to war. If you have lots of ·good advice [counselors], you will win.
24:7  Foolish people cannot understand wisdom. They ·have nothing to say [L do not open their mouth] in ·a discussion [L the gate; C where the elders make decisions].
24:8  Whoever makes evil plans will be ·known as [called] a ·troublemaker [master schemer].
24:9  ·Making foolish plans [Scheming] is sinful, and ·making fun of wisdom is hateful [or people despise mockers].
24:10  If you ·give up [show yourself weak] ·when trouble comes [L on the day of distress/trouble], it shows that ·you are weak [L your strength is small].
24:11  ·Save [Rescue; T Deliver] those who are being led to their death; ·rescue [L don’t restrain yourself from] those who ·are about [L tottering off] to be killed.
24:12  If you say, “We don’t know anything about this,” God, who ·knows what’s in your mind [evaluates motives; L weighs hearts], ·will notice [L doesn’t he know?]. He ·is watching you [protects/guards your life], and he will know. He will reward each person for what he has done.
24:13  My ·child [L son], eat honey because it is good. Honey from the honeycomb ·tastes sweet [L is sweet on your palate].
24:14  In the same way, wisdom is pleasing to ·you [your soul]. If you find it, you have ·hope for the [L a] future, and your ·wishes [hope] will ·come true [L not be cut off].
24:15  Don’t be wicked and ·attack [ambush; lie in wait at] a ·good [righteous] family’s house; don’t ·rob [or destroy] the place where they live.
24:16  Even though ·good [righteous] people may ·be bothered by trouble [L fall] seven times, they ·are never defeated [L get back up], but the wicked ·are overwhelmed by [stumble into] trouble.
24:17  Don’t ·be happy [rejoice] when your enemy ·is defeated [L falls]; don’t let your heart be glad when he ·is overwhelmed [L stumbles].
24:18  The Lord will notice and ·be displeased [L it will be bad in his eyes]. He may ·not be angry with them anymore [L turn his anger from them; Job 31:29; Ps. 35:15–16; Rom. 12:17–21].
24:19  Don’t ·envy [get mad at] evil people, and don’t be jealous of the wicked.
24:20  An evil person has ·nothing to hope for [L no future]; the lamp of the wicked will be ·put out [extinguished].
24:21  My ·child [L son], ·respect [fear] the Lord and the king. Don’t join those people who ·refuse to obey them [rebel].
24:22  ·The Lord and the king [L They] will quickly destroy such people. ·Those two can cause great disaster! [L Who knows the disaster that both can bring?]
24:23  These are also ·sayings of [L according to] the wise [22:17]: It is not good to ·take sides when you are the judge [show partiality/favoritism in judgment].
24:24  ·Don’t tell [L Those who say to] the wicked ·that they [L “You…”] are ·innocent [righteous]; people will curse you, and nations will ·hate [despise] you.
24:25  But things will go well if you ·punish [correct; rebuke] the guilty, and you will receive rich blessings.
24:26  An honest answer is as pleasing as a kiss on the lips.
24:27  First, ·finish your outside work [execute/establish your affairs in public] and prepare your fields. After that, you can build your house.
24:28  Don’t ·testify [witness] against your neighbor for no good reason. Don’t ·say things that are false [L deceive with your lips].
24:29  Don’t say, “·I’ll get even [L As they did to me so I will do to them]; I’ll ·do to him what he did to me [repay them according to their actions].”
24:30  I ·passed by [happened upon] a lazy person’s field and by the vineyard of someone ·with no sense [L who lacks heart/sense].
24:31  Thorns had grown up everywhere. The ground was covered with weeds, and the stone walls had fallen down.
24:32  I ·thought about [took to heart] what I had seen; I learned this lesson from what I saw.
24:33  ·You sleep a little; you take a nap [“A little sleep, a little slumber”]. ·You fold your hands and [L “A little folding of the arms to…”] lie down to rest [6:10].
24:34  So ·you will be as poor as if you had been robbed [L poverty will come on you like a robber]; ·you will have as little as if you had been held up [L deprivation (will come on you) like a shielded warrior].