Proverbs 20

20Wine ^ais a mocker, Strong drink is a brawler,

And whoever is led astray by it is not wise.

²The ¹wrath of a king is like the roaring of a lion;

Whoever provokes him to anger sins against his own life.

^3bIt is honorable for a man to stop striving,

Since any fool can start a quarrel.

^4cThe lazy man will not plow because of winter;

^dHe will beg during harvest and have nothing.

⁵Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water,

But a man of understanding will draw it out.

⁶Most men will proclaim each his own ²goodness,

But who can find a faithful man?

^7eThe righteous man walks in his integrity;

^fHis children are blessed after him.

⁸A king who sits on the throne of judgment

Scatters all evil with his eyes.

^9gWho can say, “I have made my heart clean,

I am pure from my sin”?

^10hDiverse weights and diverse measures,

They are both alike, an abomination to the Lord.

¹¹Even a child is ⁱknown by his deeds,

Whether what he does is pure and right.

^12jThe hearing ear and the seeing eye,

The Lord has made them both.

^13kDo not love sleep, lest you come to poverty;

Open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with bread.

¹⁴“It is ³good for nothing,” cries the buyer;

But when he has gone his way, then he boasts.

¹⁵There is gold and a multitude of rubies,

But ^lthe lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.

^16mTake the garment of one who is surety for a stranger,

And hold it as a pledge when it is for a seductress.

¹⁷ⁿBread gained by deceit is sweet to a man,

But afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel.

^18oPlans are established by counsel;

^pBy wise counsel wage war.

^19qHe who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets;

Therefore do not associate with one ^rwho flatters with his lips.

^20sWhoever curses his father or his mother,

^tHis lamp will be put out in deep darkness.

^21uAn inheritance gained hastily at the beginning

^vWill not be blessed at the end.

^22wDo not say, “I will ⁴recompense evil”;

^xWait for the Lord, and He will save you.

²³Diverse weights are an abomination to the Lord,

And dishonest scales are not good.

²⁴A man’s steps are of the Lord;

How then can a man understand his own way?

²⁵It is a snare for a man to devote rashly something as holy,

And afterward to reconsider his vows.

^26yA wise king sifts out the wicked,

And brings the threshing wheel over them.

^27zThe spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord,

Searching all the ⁵inner depths of his heart.

^28aMercy and truth preserve the king,

And by ⁶lovingkindness he upholds his throne.

²⁹The glory of young men is their strength,

And ^bthe splendor of old men is their gray head.

³⁰Blows that hurt cleanse away evil,

As do stripes the ⁷inner depths of the heart.