Proverbs 20

Chapter 20

¹Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler;

and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.

²The dread wrath of a king is like the growling of a lion;

he who provokes him to anger forfeits his life.

³It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife;

but every fool will be quarreling.

⁴The sluggard does not plow in the autumn;

he will seek at harvest and have nothing.

⁵The purpose in a man’s mind is like deep water,

but a man of understanding will draw it out.

⁶Many a man proclaims his own loyalty,

but a faithful man who can find?

⁷A righteous man who walks in his integrity—

blessed are his sons after him!

⁸A king who sits on the throne of judgment

winnows all evil with his eyes.

⁹Who can say, “I have made my heart clean;

I am pure from my sin”?

¹⁰Diverse weights and diverse measures

are both alike an abomination to the Lord.

¹¹Even a child makes himself known by his acts,

whether what he does is pure and right.

¹²The hearing ear and the seeing eye,

the Lord has made them both.

¹³Love not sleep, lest you come to poverty;

open your eyes, and you will have plenty of bread.

¹⁴“It is bad, it is bad,” says the buyer;

but when he goes away, then he boasts.

¹⁵There is gold, and abundance of costly stones;

but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.

¹⁶Take a man’s garment when he has given surety for a stranger,

and hold him in pledge when he gives surety for foreigners.

¹⁷Bread gained by deceit is sweet to a man,

but afterward his mouth will be full of gravel.

¹⁸Plans are established by counsel;

by wise guidance wage war.

¹⁹He who goes about gossiping reveals secrets;

therefore do not associate with one who speaks foolishly.

²⁰If one curses his father or his mother,

his lamp will be put out in utter darkness.

²¹An inheritance gotten hastily in the beginning

will in the end not be blessed.

²²Do not say, “I will repay evil”;

wait for the Lord, and he will help you.

²³Diverse weights are an abomination to the Lord,

and false scales are not good.

²⁴A man’s steps are ordered by the Lord;

how then can man understand his way?

²⁵It is a snare for a man to say rashly, “It is holy,”

and to reflect only after making his vows.

²⁶A wise king winnows the wicked,

and drives the wheel over them.

²⁷The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord,

searching all his innermost parts.

²⁸Loyalty and faithfulness preserve the king,

and his throne is upheld by righteousness.^g

²⁹The glory of young men is their strength,

but the beauty of old men is their gray hair.

³⁰Blows that wound cleanse away evil;

strokes make clean the innermost parts.