Proverbs 24 Brenton's English Septuagint

About Brenton

Individual translator
OT: Septuagint (Greek)
Septuagint Old Testament (no New Testament)
Formal (word for word)
1844
Public domain

Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings

Notes on this text (2)

Square brackets mark words Brenton supplied for English sense.
Old Testament only (no New Testament). First printed 1844; the 1851 edition added the deuterocanonical books.

Brenton Brenton's English Septuagint

WEB World English Bible (Classic, with Deuterocanon)

1 [My] son, envy not bad men, nor desire to be with them.

1 Don’t be envious of evil men, neither desire to be with them;

2 For their heart meditates falsehoods, and their lips speak mischiefs.

2 for their hearts plot violence and their lips talk about mischief.

3 A house is built by wisdom, and is set up by understanding.

3 Through wisdom a house is built; by understanding it is established;

4 By discretion the chambers are filled with all precious and excellent wealth.

4 by knowledge the rooms are filled with all rare and beautiful treasure.

5 A wise man is better than a strong man; and a man who has prudence than a large estate.

5 A wise man has great power. A knowledgeable man increases strength,

6 War is carried on with generalship, and aid is supplied to the heart of a counsellor.

6 for by wise guidance you wage your war, and victory is in many advisors.

7 Wisdom and good understanding are in the gates of the wise: the wise turn not aside from the mouth of the Lord,

7 Wisdom is too high for a fool. He doesn’t open his mouth in the gate.

8 but deliberate in council. Death befalls uninstructed [men].

8 One who plots to do evil will be called a schemer.

9 The fool also dies in sins; and uncleanness [attaches] to a pestilent man.

9 The schemes of folly are sin. The mocker is detested by men.

10 He shall be defiled in the evil day, and in the day of affliction, until he be utterly consumed.

10 If you falter in the time of trouble, your strength is small.

11 Deliver them that are led away to death, and redeem them that are appointed to be slain; spare not [thy help].

11 Rescue those who are being led away to death! Indeed, hold back those who are staggering to the slaughter!

12 But if thou shouldest say, I know not this man; know that the Lord knows the hearts of all; and he that formed breath for all, he knows all things, who renders to every man according to his works.

12 If you say, “Behold, we didn’t know this,” doesn’t he who weighs the hearts consider it? He who keeps your soul, doesn’t he know it? Shall he not give to every man according to his work?

13 [My] son, eat honey, for the honeycomb is good, that thy throat may be sweetened.

13 My son, eat honey, for it is good, the droppings of the honeycomb, which are sweet to your taste;

14 Thus shalt thou perceive wisdom in thy soul: for if thou find it, thine end shall be good, and hope shall not fail thee.

14 so you shall know wisdom to be to your soul. If you have found it, then there will be a reward: Your hope will not be cut off.

15 Bring not an ungodly man into the dwelling of the righteous: neither be deceived by the feeding of the belly.

15 Don’t lay in wait, wicked man, against the habitation of the righteous. Don’t destroy his resting place;

16 For a righteous man will fall seven times, and rise [again]: but the ungodly shall be without strength in troubles.

16 for a righteous man falls seven times and rises up again, but the wicked are overthrown by calamity.

17 If thine enemy should fall, rejoice not over him, neither be elated at his overthrow.

17 Don’t rejoice when your enemy falls. Don’t let your heart be glad when he is overthrown,

18 For the Lord will see [it], and it will not please him, and he will turn away his wrath from him.

18 lest Yahweh see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him.

19 Rejoice not in evil-doers, neither be envious of sinners.

19 Don’t fret yourself because of evildoers, neither be envious of the wicked;

20 For the evil man shall have no posterity: and the light of the wicked shall be put out.

20 for there will be no reward to the evil man. The lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out.

21 [My] son, fear God and the king; and do not disobey either of them.

21 My son, fear Yahweh and the king. Don’t join those who are rebellious,

22 For they will suddenly punish the ungodly, and who can know the vengeance [inflicted] by both?

22 for their calamity will rise suddenly. Who knows what destruction may come from them both?

22a [A son that keeps the commandment shall escape destruction; for [such an one] has fully received it.

22b Let no falsehood be spoken by the king from the tongue; yea, let no falsehood proceed from his tongue.

22c The king's tongue is a sword, and not one of flesh; and whosoever shall be given up to [it] shall be destroyed:

22d for if his wrath should be provoked, he destroys men with cords,

22e and devours men's bones, and burns them up as a flame, so that they are not [even] fit to be eaten by the young eagles.

22f [My] son, reverence my words, and receive them, and repent.] These things says the man to them that trust in God; and I cease.

22g For I am the most simple of all men, and there is not in me the wisdom of men.

22h God has taught me wisdom, and I know the knowledge of the holy.

22i Who has gone up to heaven, and come down? who has gathered the winds in his bosom? who has wrapped up the waters in a garment? who has dominion of all the ends of the earth? what is his name? or what is the name of his children?

22k For all the words of God are tried in the fire, and he defends those that reverence him.

22l Add not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be made a liar.

22m Two things I ask of thee; take not favour from me before I die.

22n Remove far from me vanity and falsehood: and give me not wealth [or ] poverty; but appoint me what is needful and sufficient:

22o lest I be filled and become false, and say, Who sees me? or be poor and steal, and swear [vainly ] by the name of God.

22p Deliver not a servant into the hands of his master, lest he curse thee, and thou be utterly destroyed.

22q A wicked generation curse their father, and do not bless their mother.

22r A wicked generation judge themselves to be just, but do not cleanse their way.

22s A wicked generation have lofty eyes, and exalt themselves with their eyelids.

22t A wicked generation have swords [for ] teeth and jaw-teeth [as ] knives, so as to destroy and devour the lowly from the earth, and the poor of them from among men.

23 And this thing I say to you that are wise [for you] to learn: It is not good to have respect of persons in judgment.

23 These also are sayings of the wise: To show partiality in judgment is not good.

24 He that says of the ungodly, He is righteous, shall be cursed by peoples, and hateful among the nations.

24 He who says to the wicked, “You are righteous,” peoples will curse him, and nations will abhor him—

25 But they that reprove [him] shall appear more excellent, and blessing shall come upon them;

25 but it will go well with those who convict the guilty, and a rich blessing will come on them.

26 and [men] will kiss lips that answer well.

26 An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips.

27 Prepare thy works for [thy] going forth, and prepare thyself for the field; and come after me, and thou shalt rebuild thine house.

27 Prepare your work outside, and get your fields ready. Afterwards, build your house.

28 Be not a false witness against thy [fellow] citizen, neither exaggerate with thy lips.

28 Don’t be a witness against your neighbor without cause. Don’t deceive with your lips.

29 Say not, As he has treated me, so will I treat him, and I will avenge myself on him for that wherein he has injured me.

29 Don’t say, “I will do to him as he has done to me; I will repay the man according to his work.”

30 A foolish man is like a farm, and a senseless man is like a vineyard.

30 I went by the field of the sluggard, by the vineyard of the man void of understanding.

31 If thou let him alone, he will altogether remain barren and covered with weeds; and he becomes destitute, and his stone walls are broken down.

31 Behold, it was all grown over with thorns. Its surface was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down.

32 Afterwards I reflected, I looked that I might receive instruction.

32 Then I saw, and considered well. I saw, and received instruction:

33 [The sluggard says], I slumber a little, and I sleep a little, and for a little while I fold my arms across [my] breast.

33 a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep,

34 But if thou do this, thy poverty will come speedily; and thy want like a swift courier.

34 so your poverty will come as a robber and your want as an armed man.

35 The horse-leech had three dearly-beloved daughters: and these three did not satisfy her; and the fourth was not contented so as to say, Enough.

35 Not in this translation

36 The grave, and the love of a woman, and the earth not filled with water; water also and fire will not say, It is enough.

36 Not in this translation

37 The eye that laughs to scorn a father, and dishonours the old age of a mother, let the ravens of the valleys pick it out, and let the young eagles devour it.

37 Not in this translation

38 Moreover there are three things impossible for me to comprehend, and the fourth I know not:

38 Not in this translation

39 the track of a flying eagle; and the ways of a serpent on a rock; and the paths of a ship passing through the sea; and the ways of a man in youth.

39 Not in this translation

40 Such is the way of an adulterous woman, who having washed herself from what she has done, says she has done nothing amiss.

40 Not in this translation

41 By three things the earth is troubled, and the fourth it cannot bear:

41 Not in this translation

42 if a servant reign; or a fool be filled with food;

42 Not in this translation

43 or if a maid-servant should cast out her own mistress; and if a hateful woman should marry a good man.

43 Not in this translation

44 And [there are] four very little things upon the earth, but these are wiser than the wise:

44 Not in this translation

45 the ants which are weak, and [yet ] prepare [their ] food in summer;

45 Not in this translation

46 the rabbits also [are ] a feeble race, who make their houses in the rocks.

46 Not in this translation

47 The locusts have no king, and [yet ] march orderly at one command.

47 Not in this translation

48 And the eft, which supports itself by [its ] hands, and is easily taken, dwells in the fortresses of kings.

48 Not in this translation

49 And there are three things which go well, and a fourth which passes along finely.

49 Not in this translation

50 A lion's whelp, stronger than [all other] beasts, which turns not away, nor fears [any ] beast;

50 Not in this translation

51 and a cock walking in boldly among the hens, and a goat leading the herd; and a king publicly speaking before a nation.

51 Not in this translation

52 If thou abandon thyself to mirth, and stretch forth thine hand in a quarrel, thou shalt be disgraced.

52 Not in this translation

53 Milk out milk, and there shall be butter, and if thou wring [one's ] nostrils there shall come out blood: so if thou extort words, there will come forth quarrels and strifes.

53 Not in this translation

54 My words have been spoken by God—the oracular answer of a king, whom his mother instructed.

54 Not in this translation

55 What wilt thou keep, my son, what? the words of God. My firstborn son, I speak to thee: what? son of my womb? what? son of my vows?

55 Not in this translation

56 Give not thy wealth to women, nor thy mind and living to remorse. Do all things with counsel: drink wine with counsel.

56 Not in this translation

57 Princes are prone to anger: let them then not drink wine:

57 Not in this translation

58 lest they drink, and forget wisdom, and be not able to judge the poor rightly.

58 Not in this translation

59 Give strong drink to those that are in sorrow, and the wine to drink to those in pain:

59 Not in this translation

60 that they may forget their poverty, and may not remember their troubles any more.

60 Not in this translation

61 Open thy mouth with the word of God, and judge all fairly.

61 Not in this translation

62 Open thy mouth and judge justly, and plead the cause of the poor and weak.

62 Not in this translation

Cross references (53)

Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.

Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences

What the Fathers said

Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).

How these were chosen

“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).

Quotes verse 24:16 Augustine of Hippo, The City of God (Book XI, Chapters 30–33)
On this account it is often put for all numbers together, as, "A just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again," --that is, let him fall never so often, he will not perish (and this was meant to be understood not of sins, but of afflictions conducing to lowliness).
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)
Quotes verse 24:16 Augustine of Hippo, Expositions on the Psalms (Psalm CXIX)
For no other reason it was said, "a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again:" that is, the just man perisheth not, though brought low in every way, yet not induced to transgress, otherwise he will not be just.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 8 (1888)
Quotes verse 24:16 Augustine of Hippo, Expositions on the Psalms (Psalm CXLV)
But "God strengtheneth." For "the just falleth seven times, and riseth again; but the wicked shall be weakened in evils." When evils befall the wicked, they are weakened thereby; when evils befall the righteous, "the Lord strengtheneth all that are falling."..."And lifteth up all those that have been cast down:" all, that is, who belong to him; for "God resisteth …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 8 (1888)

Old Testament

What the Fathers said