Proverbs 20
20
Words of Wisdom Are Better than Gold
1It isn't smart to get drunk!
Drinking makes a fool of you
and leads to fights.
2An angry ruler
is like a roaring lion—
make either one angry,
and you are dead.
3It makes you look good
when you avoid a fight—
only fools love to quarrel.
4If you are too lazy to plow,
don't expect a harvest.
5Someone's thoughts may be
as deep as the ocean,
but if you are smart,
you will discover them.
6There are many who say,
“You can trust me!”
But can they be trusted?
7Good people live right,
and God blesses the children
who follow their example.
8When rulers decide cases,
they weigh the evidence.
9Can any of us really say,
“My thoughts are pure,
and my sins are gone”?
10Two things the Lord hates
are dishonest scales
and dishonest measures.
11The good or bad
that children do
shows what they are like.
12Hearing and seeing
are gifts from the Lord.
13If you sleep all the time,
you will starve;
if you get up and work,
you will have enough food.
14Everyone likes to brag
about getting a bargain.
15Sensible words are better
than gold or jewels.
16You deserve to lose your coat
if you loan it to someone
to guarantee payment
for the debt of a stranger.
17The food you get by cheating
may taste delicious,
but it turns to gravel.
18Be sure you have sound advice
before making plans
or starting a war.
19Stay away from gossips—
they tell everything.
20Children who curse their parents
will go to the land of darkness
long before their time.
21Getting rich quick#20.21 quick: Or “the wrong way.”
may turn out to be a curse.
22Don't try to get even.
Trust the Lord,
and he will help you.
23The Lord hates dishonest scales
and dishonest weights.
So don't cheat!
24How can we know
what will happen to us
when the Lord alone decides?
25Don't fall into the trap
of making promises to God
before you think!
26A wise ruler severely punishes
every criminal.
27Our inner thoughts are a lamp
from the Lord,
and they search our hearts.
28Rulers are protected
by God's mercy and loyalty,
but#20.28 by God's mercy … but: Or “by their mercy … and.” they must be merciful
for their kingdoms to last.
29Young people take pride
in their strength,
but the gray hairs of wisdom
are even more beautiful.
30A severe beating can knock all
of the evil out of you!
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Proverbs 20: CEVDCI
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Proverbs 20
20
1 WINE IS a mocker, strong drink a riotous brawler; and whoever errs or reels because of it is not wise. [Prov. 23:29, 30; Isa. 28:7; Hos. 4:11.]
2 The terror of a king is as the roaring of a lion; whoever provokes him to anger or angers himself against him sins against his own life.
3 It is an honor for a man to cease from strife and keep aloof from it, but every fool will quarrel.
4 The sluggard does not plow when winter sets in; therefore he begs in harvest and has nothing.
5 Counsel in the heart of man is like water in a deep well, but a man of understanding draws it out. [Prov. 18:4.]
6 Many a man proclaims his own loving-kindness and goodness, but a faithful man who can find?
7 The righteous man walks in his integrity; blessed (happy, fortunate, enviable) are his children after him.
8 A king who sits on the throne of judgment winnows out all evil [like chaff] with his eyes.
9 Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin? [I Kings 8:46; II Chron. 6:36; Job 9:30; 14:4; Ps. 51:5; I John 1:8.]
10 Diverse weights [one for buying and another for selling] and diverse measures–both of them are exceedingly offensive and abhorrent to the Lord. [Deut. 25:13; Mic. 6:10, 11.]
11 Even a child is known by his acts, whether [or not] what he does is pure and right.
12 The hearing ear and the seeing eye–the Lord has made both of them.
13 Love not sleep, lest you come to poverty; open your eyes and you will be satisfied with bread.
14 It is worthless, it is worthless! says the buyer; but when he goes his way, then he boasts [about his bargain].
15 There is gold, and a multitude of pearls, but the lips of knowledge are a vase of preciousness [the most precious of all]. [Job 28:12, 16-19; Prov. 3:15; 8:11.]
16 [The judge tells the creditor] Take the garment of one who is security for a stranger; and hold him in pledge when he is security for foreigners.
17 Food gained by deceit is sweet to a man, but afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel.
18 Purposes and plans are established by counsel; and [only] with good advice make or carry on war.
19 He who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets; therefore associate not with him who talks too freely. [Rom. 16:17, 18.]
20 Whoever curses his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in complete darkness.
21 An inheritance hastily gotten [by greedy, unjust means] at the beginning, in the end it will not be blessed. [Prov. 28:20; Hab. 2:6.]
22 Do not say, I will repay evil; wait [expectantly] for the Lord, and He will rescue you. [II Sam. 16:12; Rom. 12:17-19; I Thess. 5:15; I Pet. 3:9.]
23 Diverse and deceitful weights are shamefully vile and abhorrent to the Lord, and false scales are not good.
24 Man's steps are ordered by the Lord. How then can a man understand his way?
25 It is a snare to a man to utter a vow [of consecration] rashly and [not until] afterward inquire [whether he can fulfill it].
26 A wise king winnows out the wicked [from among the good] and brings the threshing wheel over them [to separate the chaff from the grain].
27 The spirit of man [that factor in human personality which proceeds immediately from God] is the lamp of the Lord, searching all his innermost parts. [I Cor. 2:11.]
28 Loving-kindness and mercy, truth and faithfulness, preserve the king, and his throne is upheld by [the people's] loyalty.
29 The glory of young men is their strength, and the beauty of old men is their gray head [suggesting wisdom and experience].
30 Blows that wound cleanse away evil, and strokes [for correction] reach to the innermost parts.
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