Proverbs 20

¹Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler,

and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.

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

anyone who provokes him to anger forfeits life itself.

³It is honorable to refrain from strife,

but every fool is quick to quarrel.

⁴The lazy person does not plow in season;

harvest comes, and there is nothing to be found.

⁵The purposes in the human mind are like deep water,

but the intelligent will draw them out.

⁶Many proclaim themselves loyal,

but who can find one worthy of trust?

⁷The righteous walk in integrity—

happy are the children who follow them!

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 children make themselves known by their acts,

by whether what they do is pure and right.

¹²The hearing ear and the seeing eye—

the Lord has made them both.

¹³Do not love sleep, or else you will come to poverty;

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

¹⁴“Bad, bad,” says the buyer,

then goes away and boasts.

¹⁵There is gold, and abundance of costly stones;

but the lips informed by knowledge are a precious jewel.

¹⁶Take the garment of one who has given surety for a stranger;

seize the pledge given as surety for foreigners.

¹⁷Bread gained by deceit is sweet,

but afterward the mouth will be full of gravel.

¹⁸Plans are established by taking advice;

wage war by following wise guidance.

¹⁹A gossip reveals secrets;

therefore do not associate with a babbler.

²⁰If you curse father or mother,

your lamp will go out in utter darkness.

²¹An estate quickly acquired in the beginning

will not be blessed in the end.

²²Do not say, “I will repay evil”;

wait for the Lord, and he will help you.

²³Differing weights are an abomination to the Lord,

and false scales are not good.

²⁴All our steps are ordered by the Lord;

how then can we understand our own ways?

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

and begin to reflect only after making a vow.

²⁶A wise king winnows the wicked,

and drives the wheel over them.

²⁷The human spirit is the lamp of the Lord,

searching every inmost part.

²⁸Loyalty and faithfulness preserve the king,

and his throne is upheld by righteousness.

²⁹The glory of youths is their strength,

but the beauty of the aged is their gray hair.

³⁰Blows that wound cleanse away evil;

beatings make clean the innermost parts.