Do not envy evil men. First, do not envy their success and wish to act as they do. Second, do not desire to be with them in love and brotherhood—even if you will not imitate their deeds—in order to gain some benefit from them.

For their heart meditates violence, and their lips speak mischief. Corresponding to “Do not envy evil men,” it says that their heart meditates devastation and ruin. It also means that their success is not true success, for they constantly fear the devastation and ruin destined to befall them. Corresponding to “Do not desire to be with them,” it explains that their lips speak mischief, and you will learn from their conduct to practice wrongdoing and iniquity.

Through wisdom a house is built... every precious and pleasant treasure. Wisdom is received by tradition: a person gathers the laws of wisdom from outside himself and brings their principles and teachings into his heart one by one. He resembles one who gathers wood, stones, lime, and all the materials needed for a house and builds stone upon stone. Understanding, however, means deriving one thing from another after receiving and gathering the laws of wisdom and accepting them faithfully. It resembles establishing the house by placing its roof and ceiling upon it. If he afterward reaches the level of knowledge, knowing everything clearly as something perceived by the senses or grasped as a first principle, this resembles filling the house with precious and pleasant vessels. The chambers of the house of wisdom are then filled with light, and he produces blossoms and flowers for the Torah. In the same manner Scripture attributes the building of the world—which was built through wisdom—to Hashem: “Through wisdom Hashem founded the earth; He established the heavens through understanding; through His knowledge the depths were split,” as explained there.

A wise man is mighty in strength. One who has received the laws of wisdom and conducts himself by them—the definition of a wise person—is a man mighty in strength. He already possesses strength with which to overcome the soul's enemies, the appetites and inclinations of the heart, for he subdues them through the power of the wisdom he received. Nevertheless, he does not thereby make his power permanently firm. Firmness means remaining strong continually without change, and wisdom alone cannot accomplish this, because the inclination constantly wars with the heart. Since the laws of wisdom are not understood as clearly as sensory facts, the inclination may sometimes prevail and blind the heart's eyes. But a man of knowledge, who has reached the level of knowing the laws of wisdom like things established by demonstration or sense, makes his strength firm continually, and the soul's enemies will never prevail.

For through strategies you shall wage war for yourself, and victory comes through many counselors. I have already mentioned above (12:14) that one counsel alone does not suffice for war, because the enemy also has a plan. One needs strategy—the linking of many plans one after another—so that for every plan the enemy devises, one has another plan against it. War therefore requires many counselors, each proposing a different plan, because every kind of counsel is needed. This is a parable for the soul's war against its enemies. It cannot prevail through wisdom alone, which is one particular counselor, because the enemy too comes with plans opposing wisdom's counsel. All the soul's counselors—wisdom, understanding, and knowledge—must gather together. Through the power of knowledge, which has attained everything clearly, it devises strategies and linked counsels against the plans of appetite and the inclination; then its strength becomes firm.

Wisdom is lofty to the ignoramus. The ignoramus is the opposite of the man of knowledge. Not only does he lack clear knowledge through demonstrations; he even doubts the laws of wisdom. To him the forms of wisdom seem lofty, like something descending from the heights that the intellect cannot grasp. Therefore at the gate of battle he does not open his mouth. People commonly fought at the gate, as it says, “They will speak with enemies at the gate,” because the enemy seeks to enter the fortress through the gate and the defenders prevent him. This battle is waged through speech of the mouth—the mouth alluding to wisdom—for through wisdom they defeat the enemy at the gate. But the ignoramus does not open his mouth, so the enemy enters through the gate and conquers the city.

One who plots to do evil. I explained above (12:2) that the verb zamam denotes deep plans in which one delves into how to accomplish something, and when used of secular matters it generally refers to evil. The verb chashav, when used actively, denotes improper thoughts, such as a disqualifying intention regarding a sacred offering or evil against one's fellow. One who plots to do evil will be called a master of schemes as a disgrace: his thoughts delve deeply into evil, as it says, “A man of schemes will act wickedly.”

The scheme of ignorance is sin. Sin comes through the scheme of ignorance. A scheme means immersing oneself deeply in thoughts of immorality; metaphorically, it refers to immersing oneself in the seduction of ignorance—continually doubting the laws of wisdom—from which one comes to sin, meaning violation of the laws of wisdom. If he is also a scoffer, this will transform into abomination—deeds performed repulsively in public—for he will mock and do everything openly.

If you become lax on the day of trouble... if you refrain from rescuing those taken to death. Even when they are being led to slaughter, your punishment will be measure for measure. When the day of trouble comes upon you, you will become lax and your strength will be narrow: your hands will weaken from doing anything to save you, and your power will be so restricted that you cannot accomplish anything through your own strength, just as you did nothing to rescue others.

If you say, “Behold, we did not know this.” If you offer the excuse that you did not know they were being taken to death, or did not know that you had the ability to save them, you may justify yourself before people. But Hashem, Who weighs hearts, understands the heart's thoughts. More than this, because He guards your soul, He knows. Knowledge applies to something perceived by the senses, and your deeds are inscribed and depicted upon the tablet of your soul. He will repay a man according to his deed, measure for measure.

My son, eat honey because it is good. You eat honey because it is good food for the body, and the honeycomb is sweet when it comes upon your palate.

So know wisdom for your soul. Wisdom is likewise good food for the soul. Whereas the honeycomb is sweet only while it is upon your palate, through wisdom there is a future that remains sweet to the soul forever, even when the body ceases; and your hope in this world will not be cut off, as explained above (23:18).

Do not lie in wait, wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous; do not plunder his resting place. You, wicked man, do not lie in wait against the dwelling of the righteous. That is:

• Some lie in wait from desire for money, wishing to plunder his dwelling;

• while others lie in wait from revenge or jealousy, wishing to destroy his resting place so that he will have no repose or rest.

For a righteous person falls seven times and rises. Although the righteous person falls seven times, he rises through Hashem's help. But the wicked, even if they are many, will stumble through the evil they prepared against the righteous; through that very evil they will fall and not rise.

When your enemy falls, do not be glad. There is a difference between gladness and rejoicing:

• Gladness is continual, concerning something enduring;

• while rejoicing is momentary, concerning something newly occurring, such as good news.

Therefore it says:

• Do not be glad continually because your enemy has fallen from his position;

• and even when he stumbles, at the beginning of his fall, let your heart not rejoice momentarily over the news that his downfall has begun.

Lest Hashem see and it be evil in His eyes. When He sees your cruelty and vindictiveness, He will compare your deed with your enemy's deeds. Your conduct will be evil in His eyes until your enemy appears righteous relative to you, and He will turn His anger from him toward you.

Do not become angry over evildoers; do not envy the wicked. When a person sees the wicked prospering, then:

• Their deeds may be evil in his eyes and he may not envy them or desire to be like them, yet he becomes angry over their success and complains that Hashem does not punish them. Concerning this it says, Do not become angry—do not be incensed over evildoers and their success;

• Or he may envy them and desire to be like them. Concerning this it says, Do not envy the wicked.

For there will be no future for the evil person. It explains:

• Do not become angry or feel distressed over their success, for evildoers will have no future. They will receive their punishment in the end, and their future will be cut off;

• And do not envy their present success, for the lamp of the wicked that shines for them—their prosperity—will be extinguished. It is not a steadily shining lamp, but one that flickers, sputters, and is liable to go out at every moment. Their prosperity is not genuine, for they constantly fear punishment and calamities and are never tranquil or secure.

My son, fear Hashem and the king, and do not mingle with those who seek change. It commands him to fear Hashem in matters of religion and the king, who establishes the land through justice in governing civil society. Do not mingle with people who wish to alter the political order—that is, to rebel against their king and establish in his place a second regime different from the first—for thereby you also violate fear of Hashem, Who commanded that the king's awe be upon you.

For their calamity will suddenly arise. First, the calamity of these rebels will arise suddenly if the rebellion and conspiracy are discovered. Beyond this, even if the rebellion succeeds and they change the government, who knows the ruin of both? This means the disaster that may arise through their alteration and through the second regime they establish. It may bring evil, ruin, and destruction, for they may establish a government according to their desires in order to oppress, rob, and crush the people.

These too are sayings of the wise. Until this point are the proverbs of Solomon; from here until the end of the chapter the material is collected from the words of other wise men.

It says, Showing partiality in judgment is also not good. Even if the judge does not flatter the wicked by calling him righteous, but merely recognizes the face of the righteous—because he knows that this person is ordinarily righteous and therefore favors him as righteous in the present case—

although it would normally be appropriate to maintain the righteous person's established status, it is not good in judgment. A judge must regard both litigants as potentially wicked until he investigates the case.

All the more so one who says to the wicked, “You are righteous.” Peoples will curse such a man, for he destroys the foundations of justice and righteousness.

There is a difference between peoples and nations:

• Nations possess a distinct religion and are united by faith;

• while peoples possess a king and a distinct civil law.

Peoples will curse him because he destroys civil law, while nations will denounce him because he destroys religion. Denunciation refers to punishment resulting from a curse, as though the nations have already specified his punishment.

But it will be pleasant for those who rebuke. This refers to those who rebuke the wicked, do not flatter them, but correct them with reproof.

It will be pleasant in itself, for the good path is pleasant to the soul. Beyond this, a blessing will come upon them, rather than the curse that comes upon flatterers; it depicts goodness as being multiplied for them.

Lips are kissed by one who gives a forthright answer. One who is wise in reproof can answer the person arguing with him and seeking to refute his words; he is trained to answer and overturn the other's claims, which is the definition of a response, with forthright words that decisively establish his position. Such lips receive kisses, for everyone loves them.

Prepare your work outside. If you wish to build a house—meaning to marry a wife and have children—first prepare the means by which you can support them: prepare your occupation outside the home so that you have a livelihood, and make ready in the field for the future, possessing a field of grain sown and prepared to provide bread for your household. Then build your house. Otherwise you will depend upon others, resort to theft, or neglect Torah study. This is a general proverb: for every goal, first prepare the necessary means. The Sages expounded it to mean that before studying Gemara one should prepare through Scripture and Mishnah, which precede and lead to Gemara; and before performing good deeds, one should prepare through the study that precedes action, and similarly in other matters.

Do not be a witness without cause against your fellow. Do not testify against your fellow to make him liable for something he did not do, which would be testimony without cause:

• Whether you do so for payment, concerning which it says, and would you entice—meaning, would you earn a piece of bread through your lips?

• Or whether you do so to repay him for evil he did to you, concerning which it says, Do not say, “As he did to me, so will I do to him”;

• Or whether you do so because he habitually hires himself out as a false witness, and you say, I will repay the man according to his deed.

Do not do so under any circumstances.

I passed by the field of a lazy man and by the vineyard of a man lacking heart. A field requires much active labor—plowing, sowing, and the like—and a lazy man will not perform the work of his field because of his laziness. A vineyard, already planted, requires less labor and needs primarily to be guarded from damage. A lazy man might do this, but a man lacking heart does not understand the loss that will befall the vineyard if he fails to guard it, and therefore neglects even the vineyard.

Behold, it was entirely overgrown with thorns; nettles covered its surface... The pronoun “entirely” refers to the field, which is grammatically masculine; the vineyard's surface was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was also destroyed.

I beheld; I applied my heart; I saw and took discipline. Beholding differs from seeing: beholding indicates a vision of the heart and spirit, while seeing refers to the sight of the eyes. Because the matter contains both a parable visible to the eyes and an application perceived by the heart, it says that he beheld and applied his heart to the vision, and also saw with his eyes and took discipline. The application concerns the field and vineyard of the soul. The soul has the potential to produce the fruit of wisdom and worthy conduct if its depths are plowed, its thorns and weeds removed, and the seed of Hashem sown in it, as I explained on Isaiah 28. The field represents the positive commandments that must be actively performed, as well as the labor required in the field of study—to gather and bring in knowledge—which resembles every kind of fieldwork. The lazy person does not perform positive commandments or plow deeply in study because of his laziness. The vineyard represents one who has already planted vines of wisdom and now must guard the negative commandments, and also preserve his learning from being forgotten, which is lighter work. One who neglects this does so not from laziness but from lacking heart, meaning that he lacks the faculty that rules his spirit; appetite breaks through him, leading him to violate negative commandments and abandon his Torah. His field and vineyard therefore become overgrown with thorns, the portion of his soul is ruined by the weeds of the inclination, and it produces no fruit. From this I took discipline, restraining the soul with the bonds of moral discipline so that it would not leave its boundary.

A little sleep, a little slumber. Sleep is settled and deep, while slumber is lighter. When slumber comes after sleep it is unnecessary indulgence: after awakening from his sleep, he still dozes, neither fully asleep nor awake; and after awakening even from that slumber, he folds his hands to lie down longer upon his bed and is too lazy to dress himself. Then:

Your poverty will come walking, and your want like an armed man. Poverty comes without force, merely like a traveler, and you do not sense it at all. But the wants that follow poverty come with sword, spear, and a strong hand, like an armed man. You will fight against the want that oppresses you, but it will wear armor, so that you can no longer defeat it.