13-14. Eat honey, dear child—it’s good for you—and delicacies that melt in your mouth.Likewise knowledge,and wisdom for your soul—Get that and your future’s secured,your hope is on solid rock.
15-16. Don’t interfere with good people’s lives;don’t try to get the best of them.No matter how many times you trip them up,God-loyal people don’t stay down long;Soon they’re up on their feet,while the wicked end up flat on their faces.
17-18. Don’t laugh when your enemy falls;don’t crow over his collapse.God might see, and become very provoked,and then take pity on his plight.
19-20. Don’t bother your head with braggartsor wish you could succeed like the wicked.Those people have no future at all;they’re headed down a dead-end street.
21-22. Fear God, dear child—respect your leaders;don’t be defiant or mutinous.Without warning your life can turn upside down,and who knows how or when it might happen?
23. It’s wrong, very wrong,to go along with injustice.
24-25. Whoever whitewashes the wickedgets a black mark in the history books,But whoever exposes the wickedwill be thanked and rewarded.
26. An honest answeris like a warm hug.
27. First plant your fields;then build your barn.