Proverbs 20

¹Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler;

And whosoever erreth thereby is not wise.

²The terror of a king is as the roaring of a lion:

He that provoketh him to anger sinneth against his own life.

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

But every fool will be quarrelling.

⁴The sluggard will not plow by reason of the winter;

Therefore he shall beg in 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 every one his own kindness;

But a faithful man who can find?

⁷A righteous man that walketh in his integrity,

Blessed are his children after him.

⁸A king that sitteth on the throne of judgment

Scattereth away 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,

Both of them alike are an abomination to Jehovah.

¹¹Even a child maketh himself known by his doings,

Whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.

¹²The hearing ear, and the seeing eye,

Jehovah hath made even both of them.

¹³Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty;

Open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.

¹⁴It is bad, it is bad, saith the buyer;

But when he is gone his way, then he boasteth.

¹⁵There is gold, and abundance of rubies;

But the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.

¹⁶Take his garment that is surety for a stranger;

And hold him in pledge that is surety for foreigners.

¹⁷Bread of falsehood is sweet to a man;

But afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel.

¹⁸Every purpose is established by counsel;

And by wise guidance make thou war.

¹⁹He that goeth about as a tale-bearer revealeth secrets;

Therefore company not with him that openeth wide his lips.

²⁰Whoso curseth his father or his mother,

His lamp shall be put out in blackness of darkness.

²¹An inheritance may be gotten hastily at the beginning;

But the end thereof shall not be blessed.

²²Say not thou, I will recompense evil:

Wait for Jehovah, and he will save thee.

²³Diverse weights are an abomination to Jehovah;

And a false balance is not good.

²⁴A man’s goings are of Jehovah;

How then can man understand his way?

²⁵It is a snare to a man rashly to say, It is holy,

And after vows to make inquiry.

²⁶A wise king winnoweth the wicked,

And bringeth the threshing-wheel over them.

²⁷The spirit of man is the lamp of Jehovah,

Searching all his innermost parts.

²⁸Kindness and truth preserve the king;

And his throne is upholden by kindness.

²⁹The glory of young men is their strength;

And the beauty of old men is the hoary head.

³⁰Stripes that wound cleanse away evil;

And strokes reach the innermost parts.