Proverbs · 34 verses
Proverbs 24
Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.
The chapter
What happens here
Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.
An honest answer arrives like a kiss on the lips; elsewhere, an enemy’s fall is so dangerous to celebrate that the LORD may turn wrath away from him.
Wisdom builds, and does not leave the helpless to their fatevv. 1–14
The sayings begin by refusing the glamour of wicked company: violent hearts and troublesome lips are a poor sort of society. Wisdom, by contrast, builds a house, fills its rooms, strengthens a man, and brings sound counsel even to war. Then the matter becomes urgent: those being led to death are to be rescued, and the excuse of ignorance is not expected to survive the gaze of the One who weighs hearts. Honey makes the same point more agreeably; wisdom is sweet to the soul and leaves a future in its wake.
The fallen righteous man and the enemy nobody is permitted to enjoyvv. 15–29
The wicked man is told not to lie in wait by the righteous man’s dwelling, for the righteous may fall seven times and still get up—a wonderfully precise number, left standing without explanation. The oddest turn comes next: gloating over an enemy’s stumble may make the LORD see, disapprove, and turn His wrath away from that enemy. The sayings then move into public life: judgment must not favour the guilty, an honest answer is like a kiss on the lips, and repayment is not to be composed in advance.
The field that preached without opening its mouthvv. 30–34
At the end, the speaker passes a slacker’s field and a man lacking judgment’s vineyard. Thorns, thistles, and a broken stone wall have taken over, and the observer receives instruction from the sight. The lesson comes in a small, drowsy procession—sleep, slumber, folded hands—and then poverty arrives with the brisk manners of a robber.
The text
Read it
Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.
Prov 24:1Do not envy wicked men or desire their company;
Prov 24:2for their hearts devise violence, and their lips declare trouble.
Prov 24:3By wisdom a house is built and by understanding it is established;
Prov 24:4through knowledge its rooms are filled with every precious and beautiful treasure.
Prov 24:5A wise man is strong, and a man of knowledge enhances his strength.
Prov 24:6Only with sound guidance should you wage war, and victory lies in a multitude of counselors.
Prov 24:7Wisdom is too high for a fool; he does not open his mouth in the meeting place.
Prov 24:8He who plots evil will be called a schemer.
Prov 24:9A foolish scheme is sin, and a mocker is detestable to men.
Prov 24:10If you faint in the day of distress, how small is your strength!
Prov 24:11Rescue those being led away to death, and restrain those stumbling toward the slaughter.
Prov 24:12If you say, “Behold, we did not know about this,” does not He who weighs hearts consider it? Does not the One who guards your life know? Will He not repay a man according to his deeds?
Prov 24:13Eat honey, my son, for it is good, and the honeycomb is sweet to your taste.
Prov 24:14Know therefore that wisdom is sweet to your soul. If you find it, there is a future for you, and your hope will never be cut off.
Prov 24:15Do not lie in wait, O wicked man, near the dwelling of the righteous; do not destroy his resting place.
Prov 24:16For though a righteous man may fall seven times, he still gets up; but the wicked stumble in bad times.
Prov 24:17Do not gloat when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart rejoice when he stumbles,
Prov 24:18or the LORD will see and disapprove, and turn His wrath away from him.
Prov 24:19Do not fret over evildoers, and do not be envious of the wicked.
Prov 24:20For the evil man has no future; the lamp of the wicked will be extinguished.
Prov 24:21My son, fear the LORD and the king, and do not associate with the rebellious.
Prov 24:22For they will bring sudden destruction. Who knows what ruin they can bring?
Prov 24:23These also are sayings of the wise: To show partiality in judgment is not good.
Prov 24:24Whoever tells the guilty, “You are innocent”—peoples will curse him, and nations will denounce him;
Prov 24:25but it will go well with those who convict the guilty, and rich blessing will come upon them.
Prov 24:26An honest answer given is like a kiss on the lips.
Prov 24:27Complete your outdoor work and prepare your field; after that, you may build your house.
Prov 24:28Do not testify against your neighbor without cause, and do not deceive with your lips.
Prov 24:29Do not say, “I will do to him as he has done to me; I will repay the man according to his work.”
Prov 24:30I went past the field of a slacker and by the vineyard of a man lacking judgment.
Prov 24:31Thorns had grown up everywhere, thistles had covered the ground, and the stone wall was broken down.
Prov 24:32I observed and took it to heart; I looked and received instruction:
Prov 24:33A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest,
Prov 24:34and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and need like a bandit.
02 — Read alongside
Where this is echoed
Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 382 passages were voted onto 34 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.
- 16Psalms 37:24Though he falls, he will not be overwhelmed, for the LORD is holding his hand.
- 16Psalms 34:19Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him from them all.
- 16Micah 7:8–10Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will arise; though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light.
- 16Job 5:19He will rescue you from six calamities; no harm will touch you in seven.
- 10Isaiah 40:28–31Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary; His understanding is beyond searching out.
- 162 Corinthians 4:8–12We are hard pressed on all sides, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;
- 10Ephesians 3:13So I ask you not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory.
- 3Proverbs 14:1Every wise woman builds her house, but a foolish one tears it down with her own hands.
- 10Jeremiah 51:46Do not let your heart grow faint, and do not be afraid when the rumor is heard in the land; for a rumor will come one year—and then another the next year—of violence in the land and of ruler against ruler.
- 27Luke 14:28–30Which of you, wishing to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost to see if he has the resources to complete it?
- 3Proverbs 9:1Wisdom has built her house; she has carved out her seven pillars.
- 31 Corinthians 3:9For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.
- 101 Samuel 27:1David, however, said to himself, “One of these days now I will be swept away by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will stop searching for me all over Israel, and I will slip out of his hand.”
- 10Hebrews 12:3–5Consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
- 17Obadiah 1:12But you should not gloat in that day, your brother’s day of misfortune, nor rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their destruction, nor boast proudly in the day of their distress.
- 3Colossians 2:7rooted and built up in Him, established in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
Onward