Proverbs 20

1 Wine and beer make people loud and uncontrolled; it is not wise to get drunk on them.

2 An angry king is like a roaring lion. Making him angry may cost you your life.

3 Foolish people are always fighting, but avoiding quarrels will bring you honor.

4 Lazy farmers don’t plow when they should; they expect a harvest, but there is none.

5 People’s thoughts can be like a deep well, but someone with understanding can find the wisdom there.

6 Many people claim to be loyal, but it is hard to find a trustworthy person.

7 The good people who live honest lives will be a blessing to their children.

8 When a king sits on his throne to judge, he knows evil when he sees it.

9 No one can say, “I am innocent; I have never done anything wrong.”

10 The Lord hates both these things: dishonest weights and dishonest measures.

11 Even children are known by their behavior; their actions show if they are innocent and good.

12 The Lord has made both these things: ears to hear and eyes to see.

13 If you love to sleep, you will be poor. If you stay awake, you will have plenty of food.

14 Buyers say, “This is bad. It’s no good.” Then they go away and brag about what they bought.

15 There is gold and plenty of rubies, but only a few people speak with knowledge.

16 Take the coat of someone who promises to pay a stranger’s debts, and keep it until he pays what the stranger owes.

17 Stolen food may taste sweet at first, but later it will feel like a mouth full of gravel.

18 Get advice if you want your plans to work. If you go to war, get the advice of others.

19 Gossips can’t keep secrets, so avoid people who talk too much.

20 Those who curse their father or mother will be like a light going out in darkness.

21 Wealth inherited quickly in the beginning will do you no good in the end.

22 Don’t say, “I’ll pay you back for the wrong you did.” Wait for the Lord, and he will make things right.

23 The Lord hates dishonest weights, and dishonest scales do not please him.

24 The Lord decides what a person will do; no one understands what his life is all about.

25 It’s dangerous to promise something to God too quickly. After you’ve thought about it, it may be too late.

26 A wise king sorts out the evil people, and he punishes them as they deserve.

27 The Lord looks deep inside people and searches through their thoughts.

28 Loyalty and truth keep a king in power; he continues to rule if he is loyal.

29 The young glory in their strength, and the old are honored for their gray hair.
30 Hard punishment will get rid of evil, and whippings can change an evil heart.

Proverbs 20

1 Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler; And whosoever erreth thereby is not wise.

2 The terror of a king is as the roaring of a lion: He that provoketh him to anger sinneth against his own life.

3 It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife; But every fool will be quarrelling.

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 Most men will proclaim every one his own kindness; But a faithful man who can find?

7 A righteous man that walketh in his integrity, Blessed are his children after him.

8 A king that sitteth on the throne of judgment Scattereth away all evil with his eyes.

9 Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?

10 Diverse weights, and diverse measures, Both of them alike are an abomination to Jehovah.

11 Even a child maketh himself known by his doings, Whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.

12 The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, Jehovah hath made even both of them.

13 Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; Open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.

14 It is bad, it is bad, saith the buyer; But when he is gone his way, then he boasteth.

15 There is gold, and abundance of rubies; But the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.

16 Take his garment that is surety for a stranger; And hold him in pledge that is surety for foreigners.

17 Bread of falsehood is sweet to a man; But afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel.

18 Every purpose is established by counsel; And by wise guidance make thou war.

19 He that goeth about as a tale-bearer revealeth secrets; Therefore company not with him that openeth wide his lips.

20 Whoso curseth his father or his mother, His lamp shall be put out in blackness of darkness.

21 An inheritance may be gotten hastily at the beginning; But the end thereof shall not be blessed.

22 Say not thou, I will recompense evil: Wait for Jehovah, and he will save thee.

23 Diverse weights are an abomination to Jehovah; And a false balance is not good.

24 A man’s goings are of Jehovah; How then can man understand his way?

25 It is a snare to a man rashly to say, It is holy, And after vows to make inquiry.

26 A wise king winnoweth the wicked, And bringeth the threshing -wheel over them.

27 The spirit of man is the lamp of Jehovah, Searching all his innermost parts.

28 Kindness and truth preserve the king; And his throne is upholden by kindness.

29 The glory of young men is their strength; And the beauty of old men is the hoary head.

30 Stripes that wound cleanse away evil; And strokes reach the innermost parts.