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.