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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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
1#Pr 31:4; Isa 28:7; Hos 4:11 Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging,
and whoever is deceived by it is not wise.
2#Pr 8:36; 19:12 The terror of a king is as the roaring of a lion;
whoever provokes him to anger sins against his own soul.
3#Pr 17:14 It is an honor for a man to cease from strife,
but every fool will be meddling.
4#Pr 19:15; 10:4 The sluggard will not plow because of the cold;
therefore he will beg during harvest and have nothing.
5#Pr 18:4 Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water,
but a man of understanding will draw it out.
6#Ps 12:1; Lk 18:8 Most men will proclaim everyone his own goodness,
but who can find a faithful man?
7#Ps 37:26; 112:2 The just man walks in his integrity;
his children are blessed after him.
8#Pr 20:26; 25:5 A king who sits on the throne of judgment
scatters away all evil with his eyes.
9#1Ki 8:46; Ecc 7:20 Who can say, “I have made my heart clean,
I am pure from my sin”?
10#Pr 11:1; 20:23 Diverse weights and diverse measures,
both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord.
11#Mt 7:16 Even a child is known by his doings,
whether his work is pure and whether it is right.
12#Ps 94:9; Ex 4:11 The hearing ear and the seeing eye,
the Lord has made both of them.
13#Pr 19:15; 6:9–11 Do not love sleep, lest you come to poverty;
open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with bread.
14“It is bad, it is bad,” says the buyer;
but when he has gone his way, then he boasts.
15#Pr 3:15 There is gold and a multitude of rubies,
but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.
16#Pr 27:13 Take the garment of him who is a pledge for a stranger,
and hold it as a security when it is for a wayward woman.
17Bread of deceit is sweet to a man,
but afterwards his mouth will be filled with gravel.
18#Pr 24:6; 15:22 Every purpose is established by counsel,
and with good advice wage war.
19#Pr 11:13; Ro 16:18 He who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets;
therefore do not meddle with him who flatters with his lips.
20#Ex 21:17; Pr 30:11 Whoever curses his father or his mother,
his lamp will be put out in obscure darkness.
21An inheritance may be gained hastily at the beginning,
but the end of it will not be blessed.
22#Pr 24:29; 1Pe 3:9 Do not say, “I will recompense evil”;
but wait on the Lord, and He will save you.
23#Pr 20:10 Diverse weights are an abomination to the Lord,
and a false balance is not good.
24#Pr 16:9; Jer 10:23 Man’s goings are of the Lord;
how can a man then understand his own way?
25It is a snare to the man who dedicates rashly that which is holy,
and after the vows to make inquiry.
26#Pr 20:8 A wise king sifts out the wicked,
and drives the threshing wheel over them.
27#1Co 2:11 The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord,
searching all the inward parts of the heart.
28#Pr 29:14; 16:12 Mercy and truth preserve the king,
and his throne is upheld by mercy.
29#Pr 16:31 The glory of young men is their strength,
and the beauty of old men is the gray head.
30#Pr 22:15 The blows of a wound cleanse away evil,
so do stripes the inward parts of the heart.
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