Proverb 20

Proverbs 20 (Amplified Bible)

Proverbs 20

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