1በክፉ ሰዎች አትቅና፤
ጓደኝነታቸውም አይመርህ፤
2ልባቸው ዐመፅን ያውጠነጥናልና፤
ከንፈራቸውም ሸፍጥ ያወራል።
3ቤት በጥበብ ይሠራል፤
በማስተዋልም ይጸናል፤
4በዕውቀትም ውድና ውብ በሆነ ንብረት፣
ክፍሎቹ ይሞላሉ።
5ጠቢብ ሰው ታላቅ ኀይል አለው፤
ዕውቀት ያለውም ሰው ብርታትን ይጨምራል፤
6ጦርነት ለመግጠም መልካም ምክር፣
ድል ለማድረግም ብዙ አማካሪዎች ያስፈልጋሉ።
7ጥበብ ለተላላ በጣም ሩቅ ናት፤
በከተማዪቱ በር ሸንጎ ላይም መናገር አይችልም።
8ክፋት የሚያውጠነጥን፣
“ተንኰለኛ” በመባል ይታወቃል።
9የተላላ ዕቅድ ኀጢአት ነው፤
ሰዎችም ፌዘኛን ይጸየፋሉ።
10በመከራ ጊዜ ፈራ ተባ ካልህ፣
ዐቅምህ ምንኛ ደካማ ነው!
11ወደ ሞት የሚነዱትን ታደጋቸው፤
እየተጐተቱ ለዕርድ የሚሄዱትን አድናቸው።
12አንተም፣ “ስለዚህ ነገር ምንም አላውቅም” ብትል፣
ልብን የሚመረምር እርሱ አያስተውልምን?
ሕይወትህን የሚጠብቃት እርሱ አያውቅምን?
ለእያንዳንዱስ እንደ ሥራው መጠን አይከፍለውምን?
13ልጄ ሆይ፤ መልካም ነውና ማር ብላ፤
የማር ወለላም ጣዕም ይጣፍጥሃል።
14ጥበብም ለነፍስህ እንደዚሁ ጣፋጭ እንደ ሆነች ዕወቅ፤
ብታገኛት ለነገ አለኝታ ይኖርሃል፤
ተስፋህም ከንቱ አይሆንም።
15በጻድቅ ሰው ቤት ላይ እንደ ወንበዴ አታድፍጥ፤
መኖሪያውንም በድንገት አታጥቃ፤
16ጻድቅ ሰባት ጊዜ እንኳ ቢወድቅ ይነሣልና፤
ክፉዎች ግን በጥፋት ይወድቃሉ።
17ጠላትህ ሲወድቅ ደስ አይበልህ፤
ሲሰናከልም ልብህ ሐሤት አያድርግ፤
18አለዚያ እግዚአብሔር ይህን አይቶ ደስ አይለውም፤
ቍጣውንም ከእርሱ ይመልሳል።
19በጨካኞች ድርጊት አትጨነቅ፤
በክፉዎችም አትቅና፤
20ግፈኛ ተስፋ የለውምና፤
የክፉዎችም መብራት ድርግም ብላ ትጠፋለች።
21ልጄ ሆይ፤ እግዚአብሔርንና ንጉሥን ፍራ፤
ከዐመፀኞችም ጋር አትተባበር፤
22ሁለቱም የሚያመጡት መዓት፤
ምን እንደሚሆን ማን ያውቃል?
ተጨማሪ የጠቢባን ምሳሌዎች
23እነዚህም ደግሞ የጠቢባን ምሳሌዎች ናቸው፦
በዳኝነት አድልዎ ማድረግ ተገቢ አይደለም፤
24በደለኛውን፣ “አንተ ንጹሕ ነህ” የሚለውን፣
ሕዝቦች ይረግሙታል፤ መንግሥታትም ያወግዙታል።
25በደለኛውን፣ “አንተ ጥፋተኛ ነህ” የሚሉት ግን መልካም ነገር ይገጥማቸዋል፤
የተትረፈረፈ በረከትም ይወርድላቸዋል።
26እውነተኛ መልስ መስጠት፣
ከንፈርን እንደ መሳም ነው።
27በደጅ ያለውን ሥራህን ፈጽም፤
ዕርሻህን አዘጋጅ፤
ከዚያም በኋላ ቤትህን ሥራ።
28በባልንጀራህ ላይ ያለ ምክንያት አትመስክር፤
በከንፈርህም አትሸንግል።
29“በእኔ ላይ እንደ ሠራብኝ እሠራለታለሁ፤
ስለ አድራጎቱም የእጁን እመልስለታለሁ” አትበል።
30በሰነፍ ሰው ዕርሻ በኩል ዐለፍሁ፤
ማስተዋል የጐደለውን ሰው የወይን ቦታ ዐልፌ ሄድሁ፤
31በያለበት እሾኽ በቅሎበታል፤
መሬቱም ዐረም ለብሷል፤
ቅጥሩም ፈራርሷል።
32ያየሁትን ነገር አወጣሁ፣ አወረድሁ፤
ካስተዋልሁትም ትምህርት አገኘሁ፤
33“ጥቂት ላንቀላፋ፣ ጥቂት ላሸልብ፣
እጄን አጣጥፌ ጥቂት ልረፍ” ብትል፣
34ድኽነት እንደ ወንበዴ፣
ዕጦትም እንደ ታጠቀ ሰው ይመጣብሃል።24፥34 ወይም እንደ ቦዘኔ ወይም ዕጦትም እንደ ለማኝ
Saying 20
1Do not envy the wicked,
do not desire their company;
2for their hearts plot violence,
and their lips talk about making trouble.
Saying 21
3By wisdom a house is built,
and through understanding it is established;
4through knowledge its rooms are filled
with rare and beautiful treasures.
Saying 22
5The wise prevail through great power,
and those who have knowledge muster their strength.
6Surely you need guidance to wage war,
and victory is won through many advisers.
Saying 23
7Wisdom is too high for fools;
in the assembly at the gate they must not open their mouths.
Saying 24
8Whoever plots evil
will be known as a schemer.
9The schemes of folly are sin,
and people detest a mocker.
Saying 25
10If you falter in a time of trouble,
how small is your strength!
11Rescue those being led away to death;
hold back those staggering toward slaughter.
12If you say, “But we knew nothing about this,”
does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?
Does not he who guards your life know it?
Will he not repay everyone according to what they have done?
Saying 26
13Eat honey, my son, for it is good;
honey from the comb is sweet to your taste.
14Know also that wisdom is like honey for you:
If you find it, there is a future hope for you,
and your hope will not be cut off.
Saying 27
15Do not lurk like a thief near the house of the righteous,
do not plunder their dwelling place;
16for though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again,
but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes.
Saying 28
17Do not gloat when your enemy falls;
when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice,
18or the Lord will see and disapprove
and turn his wrath away from them.
Saying 29
19Do not fret because of evildoers
or be envious of the wicked,
20for the evildoer has no future hope,
and the lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out.
Saying 30
21Fear the Lord and the king, my son,
and do not join with rebellious officials,
22for those two will send sudden destruction on them,
and who knows what calamities they can bring?
Further Sayings of the Wise
23These also are sayings of the wise:
To show partiality in judging is not good:
24Whoever says to the guilty, “You are innocent,”
will be cursed by peoples and denounced by nations.
25But it will go well with those who convict the guilty,
and rich blessing will come on them.
26An honest answer
is like a kiss on the lips.
27Put your outdoor work in order
and get your fields ready;
after that, build your house.
28Do not testify against your neighbor without cause—
would you use your lips to mislead?
29Do not say, “I’ll do to them as they have done to me;
I’ll pay them back for what they did.”
30I went past the field of a sluggard,
past the vineyard of someone who has no sense;
31thorns had come up everywhere,
the ground was covered with weeds,
and the stone wall was in ruins.
32I applied my heart to what I observed
and learned a lesson from what I saw:
33A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest—
34and poverty will come on you like a thief
and scarcity like an armed man.