³ By wisdom a house is built;
    it is made secure through understanding.
⁴ By knowledge its rooms are furnished
    with all sorts of expensive and beautiful goods.

⁵ A wise man is strong,^[c]
    and a knowledgeable man grows in strength.
⁶ For through wise counsel you will wage your war,
    and victory lies in an abundance of advisors.

⁷ Wisdom lies beyond reach of the fool;
    he has nothing to say in court.^[d]

⁸ The person who plans on doing evil
    will be called a schemer.
⁹ To devise folly is sin,
    and people detest a scoffer.

¹⁰ If you grow weary when times are troubled,
    your strength is limited.^[e]

¹¹ Rescue those who are being led away to death,
    and save those who stumble toward slaughter.
¹² If you say, “Look here, we didn’t know about this,”
    doesn’t God,^[f] who examines motives,^[g] discern it?
Doesn’t the one who guards your soul
    know about it?
Won’t he repay each person
    according to what he has done?

¹³ My son, eat honey, because it’s good for you;^[h]
    indeed, drippings from the honeycomb are sweet to your taste;
¹⁴ Keep in mind that wisdom is like that for your soul;
    if you find it, there will be a future for you,
        and what you hope for won’t be cut short.

¹⁵ Don’t lie in wait like an outlaw
    to attack where the righteous live;
¹⁶ for though a righteous man falls seven times,
    he will rise again,
        but the wicked stumble into calamity.

¹⁷ Don’t rejoice when your enemy falls;
    don’t let yourself be glad when he stumbles.
¹⁸ Otherwise the Lord will observe and disapprove,
    and he will turn his anger away from him.

¹⁹ Don’t be anxious about those who practice evil,
    and don’t be envious of the wicked.
²⁰ For the wicked man has no future;
    the lamp of the wicked will be extinguished.

²¹ My son, fear both the Lord and the king,
    and don’t keep company with rebels.
²² They will be destroyed suddenly,
    and who knows what kind of punishment will come from these two?

It isn’t good to show partiality in judgment.
²⁴ Whoever says to the wicked, “You’re in the right,”
        will be cursed by people and hated by nations.
²⁵ But as for people who rebuke the wicked;^[i]
    a good blessing will fall upon them.

²⁶ A kiss on the lips—
    that’s what someone who gives an honest answer deserves.^[j]

²⁷ First do your outside work,
    preparing your land for yourself.
        After that, build your house.

²⁸ Don’t testify against your neighbor without a cause,
    and don’t lie when you speak.^[k]
29 Don’t say, “I’ll do to him like he did to me,
    I’ll be sure to pay him back for what he did.”

³⁰ I went by the field belonging to a lazy man,
    by a vineyard belonging to a senseless person.
³¹ There it was, overgrown with thistles,
    the ground covered with thorns,
        its stone wall collapsed.
³² As I observed, I thought about it;
    I watched, and learned a lesson:
³³ “A little sleep! A little slumber!
    A little folding of my hands to rest!”
³⁴ Then your poverty will come upon you like a robber,
    your need like an armed bandit.