20:1 WINE IS a mocker, strong drink a riotous brawler; and whoever errs {or} reels because of it is not wise. |
20:2 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. |
20:3 It is an honor for a man to cease from strife {and} keep aloof from it, but every fool will quarrel. |
20:4 The sluggard does not plow when winter sets in; therefore he begs in harvest and has nothing. |
20:5 Counsel in the heart of man is like water in a deep well, but a man of understanding draws it out. |
20:6 Many a man proclaims his own loving-kindness {and} goodness, but a faithful man who can find? |
20:7 The righteous man walks in his integrity; blessed (happy, fortunate, enviable) are his children after him. |
20:8 A king who sits on the throne of judgment winnows out all evil [like chaff] with his eyes. |
20:9 Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin? |
20:10 Diverse weights [one for buying and another for selling] and diverse measures--both of them are exceedingly offensive {and} abhorrent to the Lord. |
20:11 Even a child is known by his acts, whether [or not] what he does is pure and right. |
20:12 The hearing ear and the seeing eye--the Lord has made both of them. |
20:13 Love not sleep, lest you come to poverty; open your eyes and you will be satisfied with bread. |
20:14 It is worthless, it is worthless! says the buyer; but when he goes his way, then he boasts [about his bargain]. |
20:15 There is gold, and a multitude of pearls, but the lips of knowledge are a vase of preciousness [the most precious of all]. |
20:16 [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. |
20:17 Food gained by deceit is sweet to a man, but afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel. |
20:18 Purposes {and} plans are established by counsel; and [only] with good advice make {or} carry on war. |
20:19 He who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets; therefore associate not with him who talks too freely. |
20:20 Whoever curses his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in complete darkness. |
20:21 An inheritance hastily gotten [by greedy, unjust means] at the beginning, in the end it will not be blessed. |
20:22 Do not say, I will repay evil; wait [expectantly] for the Lord, and He will rescue you. |
20:23 Diverse {and} deceitful weights are shamefully vile {and} abhorrent to the Lord, and false scales are not good. |
20:24 Man's steps are ordered by the Lord. How then can a man understand his way? |
20:25 It is a snare to a man to utter a vow [of consecration] rashly and [not until] afterward inquire [whether he can fulfill it]. |
20:26 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]. |
20:27 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. |
20:28 Loving-kindness {and} mercy, truth {and} faithfulness, preserve the king, and his throne is upheld by [the people's] loyalty. |
20:29 The glory of young men is their strength, and the beauty of old men is their gray head [suggesting wisdom and experience]. |
20:30 Blows that wound cleanse away evil, and strokes [for correction] reach to the innermost parts. |