Proverbs20

¹ Wine is a mocker, Strong drink is a brawler, And whoever is led astray by it is not wise.

² The wrath of a king is like the roaring of a lion; Whoever provokes him to anger sins against his own life.

³ It is honorable for a man to stop striving, Since any fool can start a quarrel.

⁴ The lazy man will not plow because of winter; He will beg during harvest and have nothing.

⁵ Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water, But a man of understanding will draw it out.

⁶ Most men will proclaim each his own goodness, But who can find a faithful man?

⁷ The righteous man walks in his integrity; His children are blessed after him.

⁸ A king who sits on the throne of judgment Scatters all evil with his eyes.

⁹ Who can say, “I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin”?

¹⁰ Diverse weights and diverse measures, They are both alike, an abomination to the Lord.

¹¹ Even a child is known by his deeds, Whether what he does is pure and right.

¹² The hearing ear and the seeing eye, The Lord has made them both.

¹³ Do not love sleep, lest you come to poverty; Open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with bread.

¹⁴ “It is good for nothing,” cries the buyer; But when he has gone his way, then he boasts.

¹⁵ There is gold and a multitude of rubies, But the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.

¹⁶ Take the garment of one who is surety for a stranger, And hold it as a pledge when it is for a seductress.

¹⁷ Bread gained by deceit is sweet to a man, But afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel.

¹⁸ Plans are established by counsel; By wise counsel wage war.

¹⁹ He who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets; Therefore do not associate with one who flatters with his lips.

²⁰ Whoever curses his father or his mother, His lamp will be put out in deep darkness.

²¹ An inheritance gained hastily at the beginning Will not be blessed at the end.

²² Do not say, “I will recompense evil”; Wait for the Lord, and He will save you.

²³ Diverse weights are an abomination to the Lord, And dishonest scales are not good.

²⁴ A man’s steps are of the Lord; How then can a man understand his own way?

²⁵ It is a snare for a man to devote rashly something as holy, And afterward to reconsider his vows.

²⁶ A wise king sifts out the wicked, And brings the threshing wheel over them.

²⁷ The spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord, Searching all the inner depths of his heart.

²⁸ Mercy and truth preserve the king, And by lovingkindness he upholds his throne.

²⁹ The glory of young men is their strength, And the splendor of old men is their gray head.

³⁰ Blows that hurt cleanse away evil, As do stripes the inner depths of the heart.