Proverbs 20
20
1Wine ⌞makes people⌟ mock,
liquor ⌞makes them⌟ noisy,
and everyone under their influence is unwise.
2The rage of a king is like the roar of a lion.
Whoever makes him angry forfeits his life.
3Avoiding a quarrel is honorable.
After all, any stubborn fool can start a fight.
4A lazy person does not plow in the fall.#20:4 Fall was the start of the planting season in Palestine.
He looks for something in the harvest but finds nothing.
5A motive in the human heart is like deep water,
and a person who has understanding draws it out.
6Many people declare themselves loyal,
but who can find someone who is ⌞really⌟ trustworthy?
7A righteous person lives on the basis of his integrity.
Blessed are his children after he is gone.
8A king who sits on his throne to judge sifts out every evil with his eyes.
9Who can say,
“I’ve made my heart pure.
I’m cleansed from my sin”?
10A double standard of weights and measures—
both are disgusting to the Lord.
11Even a child makes himself known by his actions,
whether his deeds are pure or right.
12The ear that hears,
the eye that sees—
the Lord made them both.
13Do not love sleep or you will end up poor.
Keep your eyes open, and you will have plenty to eat.
14“Bad! Bad!” says the buyer.
Then, as he goes away, he brags ⌞about his bargain⌟.
15There are gold and plenty of jewels,
but the lips of knowledge are precious gems.
16Hold on to the garment of one who guarantees a stranger’s loan,
and hold responsible the person who makes a loan on behalf of a foreigner.
17Food gained dishonestly tastes sweet to a person,
but afterwards his mouth will be filled with gravel.
18Plans are confirmed by getting advice,
and with guidance one wages war.
19Whoever goes around as a gossip tells secrets.
Do not associate with a person whose mouth is always open.
20The lamp of the person who curses his father and mother
will be snuffed out in total darkness.#20:20 Or “snuffed out as darkness approaches.”
21An inheritance quickly obtained in the beginning
will never be blessed in the end.
22Do not say, “I’ll get even with you!”
Wait for the Lord, and he will save you.
23A double standard of weights is disgusting to the Lord,
and dishonest scales are no good.
24The Lord is the one who directs a person’s steps.
How then can anyone understand his own way?
25It is a trap for a person to say impulsively, “This is a holy offering!”
and later to have second thoughts about those vows.
26A wise king scatters the wicked
and then runs them over.
27A person’s soul is the Lord’s lamp.
It searches his entire innermost being.
28Mercy and truth protect a king,
and with mercy he maintains his throne.
29While the glory of young men is their strength,
the splendor of older people is their silver hair.
30Brutal beatings cleanse away wickedness.
Such beatings cleanse the innermost being.
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Proverbs 20: GW
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
Proverbs 20
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 honour for a man to keep aloof from strife:
But every fool will be quarrelling.
4The slothful 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 wilt proclaim every one his own kindness:
But a faithful man who can find?
7A just man that walketh in his integrity,
Blessed are his children after him.
8A king that sitteth on the throne of judgement
Scattereth away all evil with his eyes.
9Who can say, I have made my heart clean,
I am pure from my sin?
10Divers weights, and divers measures,
Both of them alike are an abomination to the LORD.
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,
The LORD 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 naught, it is naught, 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 strangers.
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 talebearer revealeth secrets:
Therefore meddle not with him that openeth wide his lips.
20Whoso curseth his father or his mother,
His lamp shall be put out in the blackest 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 on the LORD, and he shall save thee.
23Divers weights are an abomination to the LORD;
And a false balance is not good.
24A man's goings are of the LORD;
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 the LORD,
Searching all the innermost parts of the belly.
28Mercy and truth preserve the king:
And his throne is upholden by mercy.
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 of the belly.
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