Chapter 20

¹Wine is a mocker, and beer is a brawler;

Whoever is led astray by them is not wise.

²The terror of a king is like the roaring of a lion:

He who provokes him to anger forfeits his own life.

³It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife;

But every fool will be quarreling.

⁴The sluggard will not plow by reason of the winter;

Therefore he shall beg in harvest, and have nothing.

⁵Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water;

But a man of understanding will draw it out.

⁶Many men claim to be men of unfailing love,

But who can find a faithful man?

⁷A righteous man walks in integrity.

Blessed are his children after him.

⁸A king who sits on the throne of judgment

Scatters away all evil with his eyes.

⁹Who can say, “I have made my heart pure.

I am clean and without sin?”

¹⁰Differing weights and differing measures,

Both of them alike are an abomination to Yahweh.

¹¹Even a child makes himself known by his doings,

Whether his work is pure, and whether it is right.

¹²The hearing ear, and the seeing eye,

Yahweh has made even both of them.

¹³Don’t love sleep, lest you come to poverty;

Open your eyes, and you shall be satisfied with bread.

¹⁴“It’s no good, it’s no good,” says the buyer;

But when he is gone his way, then he boasts.

¹⁵There is gold and abundance of rubies;

But the lips of knowledge are a rare jewel.

¹⁶Take the garment of one who puts up collateral for a stranger;

And hold him in pledge for a wayward woman.

¹⁷Fraudulent food is sweet to a man,

But afterwards his mouth is filled with gravel.

¹⁸Plans are established by advice;

By wise guidance you wage war!

¹⁹He who goes about as a tale-bearer reveals secrets;

Therefore don’t keep company with him who opens wide his lips.

²⁰Whoever curses his father or his mother,

His lamp shall be put out in blackness of darkness.

²¹An inheritance quickly gained at the beginning,

Won’t be blessed in the end.

²²Don’t say, “I will pay back evil.”

Wait for Yahweh, and he will save you.

²³Yahweh detests differing weights,

And dishonest scales are not pleasing.

²⁴A man’s steps are from Yahweh;

How then can man understand his way?

²⁵It is a snare to a man to make a rash dedication,

Then later to consider his vows.

²⁶A wise king winnows out the wicked,

And drives the threshing wheel over them.

²⁷The spirit of man is Yahweh’s lamp,

Searching all his innermost parts.

²⁸Love and faithfulness keep the king safe.

His throne is sustained by love.

²⁹The glory of young men is their strength.

The splendor of old men is their gray hair.

³⁰Wounding blows cleanse away evil,

And beatings purge the innermost parts.