Immerse: Poets Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 250
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IMMERSE
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POETS
24:27–25:8
Do your planning and prepare your fields
before building your house.
Don’t testify against your neighbors without cause;
don’t lie about them.
And don’t say, “Now I can pay them back for what they’ve done to me!
I’ll get even with them!”
I walked by the field of a lazy person,
the vineyard of one with no common sense.
I saw that it was overgrown with nettles.
It was covered with weeds,
and its walls were broken down.
Then, as I looked and thought about it,
I learned this lesson:
A little extra sleep, a little more slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest—
then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit;
scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.
These are more proverbs of Solomon, collected by the advisers of King
Hezek iah of Judah.
It is God’s privilege to conceal things
and the king’s privilege to discover them.
No one can comprehend the height of heaven, the depth of the earth,
or all that goes on in the king’s mind!
Remove the impurities from silver,
and the sterling will be ready for the silversmith.
Remove the wicked from the king’s court,
and his reign will be made secure by justice.
Don’t demand an audience with the king
or push for a place among the great.
It’s better to wait for an invitation to the head table
than to be sent away in public disgrace.
Just because you’ve seen something,
don’t be in a hurry to go to court.
For what will you do in the end
if your neighbor deals you a shameful defeat?
