Proverbs 20

¹ Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler,
and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.

²The terror of a king is like the growling of a lion;
whoever 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.

⁴ The sluggard does not plow in the autumn;
he will seek at harvest and have nothing.

⁵The purpose in a man’s heart is like deep water,
but a man of understanding will draw it out.

⁶Many a man proclaims his own steadfast love,
but a faithful man who can find?

⁷The righteous who walks in his integrity—
blessed are his children after him!

⁸ A king who sits on the throne of judgment
winnows all evil with his eyes.

⁹ Who can say, “I have made my heart pure;
I am clean from my sin”?

¹⁰ Unequal weights and unequal measures
are both alike an abomination to the Lord.

¹¹Even a child makes himself known by his acts,
by whether his conduct is pure and upright.

¹² The hearing ear and the seeing eye,
the Lord has made them both.

¹³ Love not sleep, lest you come to poverty;
open your eyes, and you will have plenty of bread.

¹⁴“Bad, 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.

¹⁶ Take a man’s garment when he has put up security for a stranger,
and hold it in pledge when he puts up security for foreigners.

¹⁷ Bread gained by deceit is sweet to a man,
but afterward his mouth will be full of gravel.

¹⁸ Plans are established by counsel;
by wise guidance wage war.

¹⁹Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets;
therefore do not associate with a simple babbler.

²⁰ If one curses his father or his mother,
his lamp will be put out in utter darkness.

²¹ An inheritance gained hastily in the beginning
will not be blessed in the end.

²²Do not say, “I will repay evil”;
wait for the Lord, and he will deliver you.

²³ Unequal weights are an abomination to the Lord,
and false scales are not good.

²⁴A man’s steps are from the Lord;
how then can man understand his way?

²⁵It is a snare to say rashly, “It is holy,”
and to reflect only after making vows.

²⁶A wise king winnows the wicked
and drives the wheel over them.

²⁷ The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord,
searching all his innermost parts.

²⁸ Steadfast love and faithfulness preserve the king,
and by steadfast love his throne is upheld.

²⁹The glory of young men is their strength,
but the splendor of old men is their gray hair.

³⁰ Blows that wound cleanse away evil;
strokes make clean the innermost parts.

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