Proverbs 20
1 Wine turns you into a mocker, alcohol makes you aggressive; you're stupid to be deceived by drink.
Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.
2 When a king gets terribly angry, he sounds like a roaring lion; anyone who makes him furious is liable to be killed.
The fear of a king is as the roaring of a lion: whoso provokes him to anger sins against his own soul.
3 Avoiding conflict is the proper thing to do, but stupid people are quick to argue.
It is an honour for a man to cease from strife: but every fool will be meddling.
4 Slackers don't sow when they should, so when harvest comes they don't have anything.
The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing.
5 Discovering what someone is planning in their mind is like looking at deep water, but a person who has understanding will find out.
Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out.
6 Many people tell you they're loyal, but can you find someone really trustworthy?
Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?
7 Good people live honestly; how happy are their children if they follow them.
The just man walks in his integrity: his children are blessed after him.
8 When a king sits in judgment he recognizes all that isn't right.
A king that sits in the throne of judgment scatters away all evil with his eyes.
9 Who can claim, “I've made sure my conscience is clean; I've purified myself from sin”?
Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?
10 The Lord hates both dishonest weights and dishonest measures.
Divers weights, and divers measures, both of them are alike abomination to the LORD.
11 Even children reveal what they're like by what they do, whether their actions are good and right.
Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.
12 The Lord made our ears to hear and our eyes to see.
The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the LORD has made even both of them.
13 If you love sleeping you'll become poor. Wake up and get busy, and you'll have plenty to eat.
Love not sleep, lest you come to poverty; open your eyes, and you shall be satisfied with bread.
14 “It's really rubbish,” says the one buying, but afterwards goes and boasts to others about making a good deal.
It is nil, it is nil, says the buyer: but when he is gone his way, then he boasts.
15 There's gold and plenty of expensive gemstones, but talking sense is a more valuable jewel.
There is gold, and a multitude of rubies: but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.
16 If someone guarantees a stranger's debt with their cloak, be sure to take it! Make sure you have whatever is pledged to foreigners!
Take his garment that is guarantor for a stranger: and take a pledge of him for a strange woman.
17 Food you get by cheating may taste sweet, but afterwards it will be like a mouthful of gravel.
Bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel.
18 With sound advice, plans are successful; if you're going to war, make sure you have good guidance.
Every purpose is established by counsel: and with good advice make war.
19 A gossip goes around revealing secrets; stay away from people who talk a lot.
He that goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets: therefore meddle not with him that flatters with his lips.
20 Anyone who curses their father or mother will have their light put out and end in utter darkness.
Whoso curses his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness.
21 Wealth gained too soon won't do you any good in the end.
An inheritance may be got hastily at the beginning; but the end thereof shall not be blessed.
22 Don't say, “I'll get you back for doing me wrong.” Leave it to the Lord, and he'll help you.
Say not you, I will recompense evil; but wait on the LORD, and he shall save you.
23 The Lord hates incorrect weights; using dishonest scales is wrong.
Divers weights are an abomination unto the LORD; and a false balance is not good.
24 The Lord shows us the way to go, so how would we decide for ourselves?
Man's activities are of the LORD; how can a man then understand his own way?
25 It's a mistake to make a promise to God and then have second thoughts about it later.
It is a snare to the man who devours that which is holy, and after vows to make enquiry.
26 A wise king separates out the wicked by winnowing and punishes them by threshing.
A wise king scatters the wicked, and brings the wheel over them.
27 The Lord's light shines on the conscience, revealing our deepest thoughts.
The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly.
28 Trustworthy love and faithfulness keep a king safe; trustworthy love supports his rule.
Mercy and truth preserve the king: and his throne supported by mercy.
29 Young men value their strength, but the old value even more the wisdom that comes with gray hair.
The glory of young men is their strength: and the beauty of old men is the grey head.
30 Wounds and blows clean away what's evil; beatings clean what's deep down inside.
The blueness of a wound cleanses away evil: so do stripes the inward parts of the belly.
