Proverbs

20 Wine is a ridiculer,+ alcohol is unruly;+

Whoever goes astray by them is not wise.+

 2 The terror* of a king is like the growling of a lion;*+

Whoever provokes his anger risks his own life.+

 3 It is honorable for a man to refrain from a dispute,+

But every fool will become embroiled in it.+

 4 The lazy one does not plow in winter,

So he will be begging during the harvest when he has nothing.*+

 5 The thoughts* of a man’s heart are like deep waters,

But the discerning man draws them out.

 6 Many men proclaim their loyal love,

But who can find a faithful man?

 8 When the king sits on the throne to judge,+

He sifts out all evil with his eyes.+

 9 Who can say: “I have cleansed my heart;+

I am pure from my sin”?+

10 Dishonest weights and false measures*

—Both are detestable to Jehovah.+

11 Even a child* is known by his actions,

Whether his behavior is pure and right.+

12 The hearing ear and the seeing eye

—Jehovah has made both of them.+

14 “It is no good, it is no good!” says the buyer;

Then he goes away and boasts about himself.+

15 There is gold, also much coral,*

But the lips of knowledge are something precious.+

16 Take a man’s garment if he has given security for a stranger;+

Seize the pledge from him if he did so for a foreign woman.*+

17 Bread gained by deceit tastes good to a man,

But afterward his mouth will be full of gravel.+

18 By consultation,* plans will succeed,*+

And by skillful direction* wage your war.+

19 A slanderer goes about revealing confidential talk;+

Do not associate with one who loves to gossip.*

20 Whoever curses his father and his mother,

His lamp will be extinguished when darkness comes.+

21 An inheritance obtained first by greed

Will not be a blessing in the end.+

23 Dishonest weights* are detestable to Jehovah,

And deceptive scales are not good.

24 A man’s footsteps are directed by Jehovah;+

How can a man understand his own way?*

26 A wise king sifts out the wicked+

And drives the threshing wheel over them.+

27 The breath of a man is the lamp of Jehovah,

Searching through his innermost being.

28 Loyal love and faithfulness safeguard the king;+

By loyal love he sustains his throne.+

29 The glory of young men is their strength,+

And the splendor of old men is their gray hair.+

30 Bruises and wounds purge* away evil,+

And beatings cleanse one’s innermost being.