Proverbs 20
1
Wine is a mocker,
Strong drink is
a brawler,
And whoever is led
astray by it is not wise.
2 The wrath[a]
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,”[b]
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.[c]
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.[d]
Footnotes:
-
Proverbs 20:2
Literally fear or
terror which is
produced by the king’s
wrath
-
Proverbs 20:14
Literally evil, evil
-
Proverbs 20:27
Literally the rooms
of the belly
-
Proverbs 20:30
Literally the rooms
of the belly
