מִשְׁלֵי 20
| לץ היין המה שכר וכל שגה בו לא יחכם׃ | 1 |
Drinking a lot of wine or [other] strong drinks causes people to start fighting; it is foolish to become drunk/intoxicated.
| נהם ככפיר אימת מלך מתעברו חוטא נפשו׃ | 2 |
Being afraid of a king when he is angry is like [SIM] being afraid of a lion when it growls/roars; if you cause the king to become angry, he may execute you.
| כבוד לאיש שבת מריב וכל אויל יתגלע׃ | 3 |
[People] respect those who stay away from disputes/arguments; foolish people [love to] quarrel.
| מחרף עצל לא יחרש ישאל בקציר ואין׃ | 4 |
[If] a lazy man does not plow [his fields at the right/proper time], he will look for [crops] at harvest [time], but there will be nothing there.
| מים עמקים עצה בלב איש ואיש תבונה ידלנה׃ | 5 |
[Just] as it is difficult to bring up water from a deep well, it is difficult to know what people are thinking, but someone who has good sense/insight will be able to find out what people are thinking.
| רב אדם יקרא איש חסדו ואיש אמונים מי ימצא׃ | 6 |
Many people proclaim that they can be trusted [to do what they say that they will do], but it is very difficult to find [RHQ] someone who can really be trusted.
| מתהלך בתמו צדיק אשרי בניו אחריו׃ | 7 |
If parents conduct their lives as they should, [God] blesses their children (OR, their children are very happy/fortunate).
| מלך יושב על כסא דין מזרה בעיניו כל רע׃ | 8 |
A king who sits on his throne to judge people can [easily] [MTY] find out what things that people have done are good and what things are evil.
| מי יאמר זכיתי לבי טהרתי מחטאתי׃ | 9 |
There is no one [RHQ] who can truthfully say, “I do not know of any wrong things that I have done; I have (gotten rid of all my sinful behavior/quit doing what is sinful).”
| אבן ואבן איפה ואיפה תועבת יהוה גם שניהם׃ | 10 |
Yahweh detests people who use weights that are not right and measures that are not correct.
| גם במעלליו יתנכר נער אם זך ואם ישר פעלו׃ | 11 |
Even children show by what they do whether they are good or not; they show whether (what they do/their behavior) is honest and right [or not].
| אזן שמעת ועין ראה יהוה עשה גם שניהם׃ | 12 |
Two of the things that Yahweh has created [for us] are ears to hear things and eyes to see things.
| אל תאהב שנה פן תורש פקח עיניך שבע לחם׃ | 13 |
If you want to sleep [all the time], you will become poor; if you stay awake [and work], you will have plenty of food.
| רע רע יאמר הקונה ואזל לו אז יתהלל׃ | 14 |
People [look at things that they are about] to buy, [and in order to get it for a lower price sometimes they] say, “(It is no good/It is poor quality),” but [after they buy it], they go and boast [about having bought it for a cheap price].
| יש זהב ורב פנינים וכלי יקר שפתי דעת׃ | 15 |
Gold and precious stones are [valuable], but wise words [MTY] are more valuable.
| לקח בגדו כי ערב זר ובעד נכרים חבלהו׃ | 16 |
If you foolishly promise to a stranger that you will pay what he owes if he is unable to pay it [DOU], [you deserve to] have someone take your coat from you.
| ערב לאיש לחם שקר ואחר ימלא פיהו חצץ׃ | 17 |
People [may] think that food that they acquire by doing what is dishonest will taste very good, but later [they will not enjoy what they have done any more than they would enjoy] eating gravel/sand.
| מחשבות בעצה תכון ובתחבלות עשה מלחמה׃ | 18 |
When people give you good advice, [if you do what they suggest], your plans will succeed; so be sure to get good advice from wise people before you start fighting a war.
| גולה סוד הולך רכיל ולפתה שפתיו לא תתערב׃ | 19 |
Those who go around telling gossip are [always] telling secrets to [others]; so stay away from people who foolishly talk [too much].
| מקלל אביו ואמו ידעך נרו באישון חשך׃ | 20 |
If someone curses his father or his mother, his life will be ended, [just] like a lamp is extinguished.
| נחלה מבחלת בראשנה ואחריתה לא תברך׃ | 21 |
If you very quickly take the property that your parents promise will be yours after they die, you will not receive any good/blessing from it.
| אל תאמר אשלמה רע קוה ליהוה וישע לך׃ | 22 |
Do not say, “I will do evil to those who do evil to me;” wait for Yahweh [to do something about it], and he will (help you/[do what is right]).
| תועבת יהוה אבן ואבן ומאזני מרמה לא טוב׃ | 23 |
Yahweh detests [those who use] dishonest scales and weights that are not accurate/correct.
| מיהוה מצעדי גבר ואדם מה יבין דרכו׃ | 24 |
Yahweh is the one who has decided what will happen to us, so (how can we (understand/know) what will happen before it happens?/we humans certainly cannot (understand/know) what will happen before it happens.) [RHQ]
| מוקש אדם ילע קדש ואחר נדרים לבקר׃ | 25 |
You should think carefully before you solemnly promise to dedicate something to God, because later you might be sorry you have promised to do it.
| מזרה רשעים מלך חכם וישב עליהם אופן׃ | 26 |
Wise kings find out [MET] which people have done what is wrong, and they punish them very severely [IDM].
| נר יהוה נשמת אדם חפש כל חדרי בטן׃ | 27 |
Our consciences are [like] lamps that Yahweh [has given to us to enable us to know what we are thinking] [MET]; they reveal what is hidden deep in our (minds/inner beings).
| חסד ואמת יצרו מלך וסעד בחסד כסאו׃ | 28 |
Kings will continue to rule as long as they faithfully love their people and are loyal to them and as long as they rule righteously/fairly.
| תפארת בחורים כחם והדר זקנים שיבה׃ | 29 |
We honor/admire young people because they are strong, but we respect [MTY] old people more because they are wise.
| חברות פצע תמריק ברע ומכות חדרי בטן׃ | 30 |
When we are beaten or whipped, it [can] cause us to quit doing what is evil in our lives; when someone wounds us [by punishing us], it [can] cause our behavior to become good.
