The Proverbs
20: 1Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler;
And whosoever erreth thereby is not wise.
20:2The terror of a king is as the roaring of a lion:
He that provoketh him to anger sinneth against his own life.
20:3It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife;
But every fool will be quarrelling.
20:4The sluggard will not plow by reason of the winter;
Therefore he shall beg in harvest, and have nothing.
20:5Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water;
But a man of understanding will draw it out.
20:6Most men will proclaim every one his own kindness;
But a faithful man who can find?
20:7A righteous man that walketh in his integrity,
Blessed are his children after him.
20:8A king that sitteth on the throne of judgment
Scattereth away all evil with his eyes.
20:9Who can say, I have made my heart clean,
I am pure from my sin?
20:10Diverse weights, and diverse measures,
Both of them alike are an abomination to Jehovah.
20:11Even a child maketh himself known by his doings,
Whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.
20:12The hearing ear, and the seeing eye,
Jehovah hath made even both of them.
20:13Love not sleep, let thou come to poverty;
Open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.
20:14It is bad, it is bad, saith the buyer;
But when he is gone his way, then he boasteth.
20:15There is gold, and abundance of rubies;
But the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.
20:16Take his garment that is surety for a stranger;
And hold him in pledge that is surety for foreigners.
20:17Bread of falsehood is sweet to a man;
But afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel.
20:18Every purpose is established by counsel;
And by wise guidance make thou war.
20:19He that goeth about as a tale-bearer revealeth secrets;
Therefore company not with him that openeth wide his lips.
20:20Whoso curseth his father or his mother,
His lamp shall be put out in blackness of darkness.
20:21An inheritance may be gotten hastily at the beginning;
But the end thereof shall not be blessed.
20:22Say not thou, I will recompense evil:
Wait for Jehovah, and he will save thee.
20:23Diverse weights are an abomination to Jehovah;
And a false balance is not good.
20:24A man's goings are of Jehovah;
How then can man understand his way?
20:25It is a snare to a man rashly to say, It is holy,
And after vows to make inquiry.
20:26A wise king winnoweth the wicked,
And bringeth the threshing -wheel over them.
20:27The spirit of man is the lamp of Jehovah,
Searching all his innermost parts.
20:28Kindness and truth preserve the king;
And his throne is upholden by kindness.
20:29The glory of young men is their strength;
And the beauty of old men is the hoary head.
20:30Stripes that wound cleanse away evil;
And strokes reach the innermost parts.