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 scorner — strong drink [is] noisy, And any going astray in it is not wise.
2The fear of a king [is] a growl as of a young lion, He who is causing him to be wroth is wronging his soul.
3An honour to a man is cessation from strife, And every fool intermeddleth.
4Because of winter the slothful plougheth not, He asketh in harvest, and there is nothing.
5Counsel in the heart of a man [is] deep water, And a man of understanding draweth it up.
6A multitude of men proclaim each his kindness, And a man of stedfastness who doth find?
7The righteous is walking habitually in his integrity, O the happiness of his sons after him!
8A king sitting on a throne of judgment, Is scattering with his eyes all evil,
9Who saith, ‘I have purified my heart, I have been cleansed from my sin?’
10A stone and a stone, an ephah and an ephah, Even both of them [are] an abomination to Jehovah.
11Even by his actions a youth maketh himself known, Whether his work be pure or upright.
12A hearing ear, and a seeing eye, Jehovah hath made even both of them.
13Love not sleep, lest thou become poor, Open thine eyes — be satisfied [with] bread.
14‘Bad, bad,’ saith the buyer, And going his way then he boasteth himself.
15Substance, gold, and a multitude of rubies, Yea, a precious vessel, [are] lips of knowledge.
16Take his garment when a stranger hath been surety, And for strangers pledge it.
17Sweet to a man [is] the bread of falsehood, And afterwards is his mouth filled [with] gravel.
18Purposes by counsel thou dost establish, And with plans make thou war.
19A revealer of secret counsels is the busybody, And for a deceiver [with] his lips make not thyself surety.
20Whoso is vilifying his father and his mother, Extinguished is his lamp in blackness of darkness.
21An inheritance gotten wrongly at first, Even its latter end is not blessed.
22Do not say, ‘I recompense evil,’ Wait for Jehovah, and He delivereth thee.
23An abomination to Jehovah [are] a stone and a stone, And balances of deceit [are] not good.
24From Jehovah [are] the steps of a man, And man — how understandeth he his way?
25A snare to a man [is] he hath swallowed a holy thing, And after vows to make inquiry.
26A wise king is scattering the wicked, And turneth back on them the wheel.
27The breath of man [is] a lamp of Jehovah, Searching all the inner parts of the heart.
28Kindness and truth keep a king, And he hath supported by kindness his throne.
29The beauty of young men is their strength, And the honour of old men is grey hairs.
30The bandages of a wound thou removest with the evil, Also the plagues of the inner parts of the heart!
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