Proverbs 20

¹Wine 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.

⁴The 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!

⁸A king who sits on the throne of judgment

winnows all evil with his eyes.

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

I am clean from my sin”?

¹⁰Unequal 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.

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“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.

¹⁶Take 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.

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.

¹⁹Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets;

therefore do not associate with a simple babbler.

²⁰If one curses his father or his mother,

his lamp will be put out in utter darkness.

²¹An 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.

²³Unequal 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.

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

searching all his innermost parts.

²⁸Steadfast 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.

³⁰Blows that wound cleanse away evil;

strokes make clean the innermost parts.