20
1 Wine
is a mocker
and beer is
a brawler.
Whoever is led
astray by them is
not wise.
2 The terror
of a king
is like the
roaring of a
lion.
He who provokes
him to anger
forfeits his own
life.
3 It
is an honor for
a man to keep aloof
from strife,
but every fool
will be quarreling.
4 The
sluggard will not
plow by reason of
the winter;
therefore he shall
beg in harvest,
and have nothing.
5 Counsel
in the heart
of man is
like deep water,
but a man
of understanding
will draw it
out.
6 Many
men claim to be
men of unfailing
love,
but who can find
a faithful man?
7 A
righteous man
walks in integrity.
Blessed are his
children after him.
8 A
king who sits
on the throne
of judgment
scatters away all
evil with his
eyes.
9 Who
can say, “I
have made my heart
pure.
I am clean
and without sin”?
10 Differing weights
and differing measures,
both of them
alike are an
abomination to the
LORD.
11 Even
a child makes
himself known by
his doings,
whether his work
is pure, and
whether it is
right.
12 The
hearing ear, and
the seeing eye,
the LORD has
made even both
of them.
13 Don’t love
sleep, lest you
come to poverty.
Open your eyes,
and you shall
be satisfied with
bread.
14 “It’s no
good, it’s no good,” says the
buyer;
but when he
is gone his way, then
he boasts.
15 There
is gold and
abundance of
rubies,
but the lips
of knowledge are
a rare jewel.
16 Take
the garment of one
who puts up
collateral for a
stranger;
and hold him
in pledge for
a wayward woman.
17 Fraudulent
food is sweet
to a man,
but afterwards his mouth
is filled with
gravel.
18 Plans
are established by
advice;
by wise guidance
you wage war!
19 He
who goes about
as a tale-bearer
reveals secrets;
therefore don’t keep company with
him who opens wide
his lips.
20 Whoever
curses his father
or his mother,
his lamp shall
be put out
in blackness of
darkness.
21 An
inheritance quickly gained at
the beginning
won’t be blessed
in the end.
22 Don’t say, “I
will pay back
evil.”
Wait for the
LORD, and he
will save you.
23 The
LORD detests differing weights,
and dishonest
scales are not
pleasing.
24 A
man’s steps are
from the LORD;
how then can
man understand his
way?
25 It is a
snare to a man
to make a rash
dedication,
then later to consider his vows.
26 A
wise king winnows
out the wicked,
and drives
the threshing wheel over
them.
27 The
spirit of man
is the LORD’s
lamp,
searching all his
innermost parts.
28 Love
and faithfulness
keep the king safe.
His throne
is sustained by
love.
29 The
glory of young men
is their strength.
The splendor of
old men is their
gray hair.
30 Wounding
blows cleanse away
evil,
and beatings purge
the innermost
parts.