Proverbs 20

20Wine and beer make people loud and uncontrolled;

it is not wise to get drunk on them.

²An angry king is like a roaring lion.

Making him angry may cost you your life.

³Foolish people are always fighting,

but avoiding quarrels will bring you honor.

⁴Lazy farmers don’t plow when they should;

they expect a harvest, but there is none.

⁵People’s thoughts can be like a deep well,

but someone with understanding can find the wisdom there.

⁶Many people claim to be loyal,

but it is hard to find a trustworthy person.

⁷The good people who live honest lives

will be a blessing to their children.

⁸When a king sits on his throne to judge,

he knows evil when he sees it.

⁹No one can say, “I am innocent;

I have never done anything wrong.”

¹⁰The Lord hates both these things:

dishonest weights and dishonest measures.

¹¹Even children are known by their behavior;

their actions show if they are innocent and good.

¹²The Lord has made both these things:

ears to hear and eyes to see.

¹³If you love to sleep, you will be poor.

If you stay awake, you will have plenty of food.

¹⁴Buyers say, “This is bad. It’s no good.”

Then they go away and brag about what they bought.

¹⁵There is gold and plenty of rubies,

but only a few people speak with knowledge.

¹⁶Take the coat of someone who promises to pay a stranger’s debts,

and keep it until he pays what the stranger owes.

¹⁷Stolen food may taste sweet at first,

but later it will feel like a mouth full of gravel.

¹⁸Get advice if you want your plans to work.

If you go to war, get the advice of others.

¹⁹Gossips can’t keep secrets,

so avoid people who talk too much.

²⁰Those who curse their father or mother

will be like a light going out in darkness.

²¹Wealth inherited quickly in the beginning

will do you no good in the end.

²²Don’t say, “I’ll pay you back for the wrong you did.”

Wait for the Lord, and he will make things right.

²³The Lord hates dishonest weights,

and dishonest scales do not please him.

²⁴The Lord decides what a person will do;

no one understands what his life is all about.

²⁵It’s dangerous to promise something to God too quickly.

After you’ve thought about it, it may be too late.

²⁶A wise king sorts out the evil people,

and he punishes them as they deserve.

²⁷The Lord looks deep inside people

and searches through their thoughts.

²⁸Loyalty and truth keep a king in power;

he continues to rule if he is loyal.

²⁹The young glory in their strength,

and the old are honored for their gray hair.

³⁰Hard punishment will get rid of evil,

and whippings can change an evil heart.