Proverbs 19–21

If You Quit Listening

¹19Better to be poor and honest

than a rich person no one can trust.

²Ignorant zeal is worthless;

haste makes waste.

³People ruin their lives by their own stupidity,

so why does God always get blamed?

⁴Wealth attracts friends as honey draws flies,

but poor people are avoided like a plague.

⁵Perjury won’t go unpunished.

Would you let a liar go free?

⁶Lots of people flock around a generous person;

everyone’s a friend to the philanthropist.

⁷When you’re down on your luck, even your family avoids you—

yes, even your best friends wish you’d get lost.

If they see you coming, they look the other way—

out of sight, out of mind.

⁸Grow a wise heart—you’ll do yourself a favor;

keep a clear head—you’ll find a good life.

⁹The person who tells lies gets caught;

the person who spreads rumors is ruined.

¹⁰Blockheads shouldn’t live on easy street

any more than workers should give orders to their boss.

¹¹Smart people know how to hold their tongue;

their grandeur is to forgive and forget.

¹²Mean-tempered leaders are like mad dogs;

the good-natured are like fresh morning dew.

¹³A parent is worn to a frazzle by a stupid child;

a nagging spouse is a leaky faucet.

¹⁴House and land are handed down from parents,

but a congenial spouse comes straight from God.

¹⁵Life collapses on loafers;

lazybones go hungry.

¹⁶Keep the rules and keep your life;

careless living kills.

¹⁷Mercy to the needy is a loan to God,

and God pays back those loans in full.

¹⁸Discipline your children while you still have the chance;

indulging them destroys them.

¹⁹Let angry people endure the backlash of their own anger;

if you try to make it better, you’ll only make it worse.

²⁰Take good counsel and accept correction—

that’s the way to live wisely and well.

²¹We humans keep brainstorming options and plans,

but God’s purpose prevails.

²²It’s only human to want to make a buck,

but it’s better to be poor than a liar.

²³Fear-of-God is life itself,

a full life, and serene—no nasty surprises.

²⁴Some people dig a fork into the pie

but are too lazy to raise it to their mouth.

²⁵Punish the insolent—make an example of them.

Who knows? Somebody might learn a good lesson.

²⁶Kids who lash out against their parents

are an embarrassment and disgrace.

²⁷If you quit listening, dear child, and strike off on your own,

you’ll soon be out of your depth.

²⁸An unprincipled witness desecrates justice;

the mouths of the wicked spew malice.

²⁹The irreverent have to learn reverence the hard way;

only a slap in the face brings fools to attention.

Deep Water in the Heart

¹20Wine makes you mean, beer makes you quarrelsome—

a staggering drunk is not much fun.

²Quick-tempered leaders are like mad dogs—

cross them and they bite your head off.

³It’s a mark of good character to avert quarrels,

but fools love to pick fights.

⁴A farmer too lazy to plant in the spring

has nothing to harvest in the fall.

⁵Knowing what is right is like deep water in the heart;

a wise person draws from the well within.

⁶Lots of people claim to be loyal and loving,

but where on earth can you find one?

⁷God-loyal people, living honest lives,

make it much easier for their children.

^8–9Leaders who know their business and care

keep a sharp eye out for the shoddy and cheap,

For who among us can be trusted

to be always diligent and honest?

¹⁰Switching price tags and padding the expense account

are two things God hates.

¹¹Young people eventually reveal by their actions

if their motives are on the up and up.

Drinking from the Chalice of Knowledge

¹²Ears that hear and eyes that see—

we get our basic equipment from God!

¹³Don’t be too fond of sleep; you’ll end up in the poorhouse.

Wake up and get up; then there’ll be food on the table.

¹⁴The shopper says, “That’s junk—I’ll take it off your hands,”

then goes off boasting of the bargain.

¹⁵Drinking from the beautiful chalice of knowledge

is better than adorning oneself with gold and rare gems.

¹⁶Hold tight to collateral on any loan to a stranger;

beware of accepting what a transient has pawned.

¹⁷Stolen bread tastes sweet,

but soon your mouth is full of gravel.

¹⁸Form your purpose by asking for counsel,

then carry it out using all the help you can get.

¹⁹Gossips can’t keep secrets,

so never confide in blabbermouths.

²⁰Anyone who curses father and mother

extinguishes light and exists benighted.

The Very Steps We Take

²¹A bonanza at the beginning

is no guarantee of blessing at the end.

²²Don’t ever say, “I’ll get you for that!”

Wait for God; he’ll settle the score.

²³God hates cheating in the marketplace;

rigged scales are an outrage.

²⁴The very steps we take come from God;

otherwise how would we know where we’re going?

²⁵An impulsive vow is a trap;

later you’ll wish you could get out of it.

²⁶After careful scrutiny, a wise leader

makes a clean sweep of rebels and dolts.

²⁷God is in charge of human life,

watching and examining us inside and out.

²⁸Love and truth from a good leader;

sound leadership is founded on loving integrity.

²⁹Youth may be admired for vigor,

but gray hair gives prestige to old age.

³⁰A good thrashing purges evil;

punishment goes deep within us.

God Examines Our Motives

¹21Good leadership is a channel of water controlled by God;

he directs it to whatever ends he chooses.

²We justify our actions by appearances;

God examines our motives.

³Clean living before God and justice with our neighbors

mean far more to God than religious performance.

⁴Arrogance and pride—distinguishing marks in the wicked—

are just plain sin.

⁵Careful planning puts you ahead in the long run;

hurry and scurry puts you further behind.

⁶Make it to the top by lying and cheating;

get paid with smoke and a promotion—to death!

⁷The wicked get buried alive by their loot

because they refuse to use it to help others.

⁸Mixed motives twist life into tangles;

pure motives take you straight down the road.

Do Your Best, Prepare for the Worst

⁹Better to live alone in a tumbledown shack

than share a mansion with a nagging spouse.

¹⁰Wicked souls love to make trouble;

they feel nothing for friends and neighbors.

¹¹Simpletons only learn the hard way,

but the wise learn by listening.

¹²A God-loyal person will see right through the wicked

and undo the evil they’ve planned.

¹³If you stop your ears to the cries of the poor,

your cries will go unheard, unanswered.

¹⁴A quietly given gift soothes an irritable person;

a heartfelt present cools a hot temper.

¹⁵Good people celebrate when justice triumphs,

but for the workers of evil it’s a bad day.

¹⁶Whoever wanders off the straight and narrow

ends up in a congregation of ghosts.

¹⁷You’re addicted to thrills? What an empty life!

The pursuit of pleasure is never satisfied.

¹⁸What a bad person plots against the good, boomerangs;

the plotter gets it in the end.

¹⁹Better to live in a tent in the wild

than with a cross and petulant spouse.

²⁰Valuables are safe in a wise person’s home;

fools put it all out for yard sales.

²¹Whoever goes hunting for what is right and kind

finds life itself—glorious life!

²²One sage entered a whole city of armed soldiers—

their trusted defenses fell to pieces!

²³Watch your words and hold your tongue;

you’ll save yourself a lot of grief.

²⁴You know their names—Brash, Impudent, Blasphemer—

intemperate hotheads, every one.

²⁵Lazy people finally die of hunger

because they won’t get up and go to work.

²⁶Sinners are always wanting what they don’t have;

the God-loyal are always giving what they do have.

²⁷Religious performance by the wicked stinks;

it’s even worse when they use it to get ahead.

²⁸A lying witness is unconvincing;

a person who speaks truth is respected.

²⁹Unscrupulous people fake it a lot;

honest people are sure of their steps.

³⁰Nothing clever, nothing conceived, nothing contrived,

can get the better of God.

³¹Do your best, prepare for the worst—

then trust God to bring victory.