Proverbs 20

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Hope in Yahweh and He Will Save You

Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler,

And whoever is led astray by it is not wise.

The terror of a king is like the roar of a lion;

He who provokes him to anger sins against his own soul.

It is a glory for a man to cease quarreling,

But any ignorant fool will break out in dispute.

The sluggard does not plow from winter on,

So he begs during the harvest and has nothing.

Counsel in the heart of a man is like deep water,

But a man of discernment draws it out.

Many a man will call out his own lovingkindness,

But a faithful man, who can find?

A righteous man who walks in his integrity—

How blessed are his sons after him.

A king who sits on the throne of justice

Disperses all evil with his eyes.

Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure,

I am clean from my sin”?

Differing weights and differing measures,

Both of them are an abomination to Yahweh.

It is by his deeds that a young man makes himself known

If his conduct is pure and right.

The hearing ear and the seeing eye,

Yahweh has made both of them.

Do not love sleep, lest you become poor;

Open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with food.

“Bad, bad,” says the buyer,

But when he goes his way, then he boasts.

There is gold, and an abundance of pearls;

But the lips of knowledge are a more precious vessel.

Take his garment when he becomes a guarantor for a stranger;

And for foreigners, hold him in pledge.

Bread obtained by lying is sweet to a man,

But afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel.

Thoughts are established by counsel,

So make war by guidance.

He who goes about as a slanderer reveals secrets,

Therefore do not associate with one of loose lips.

He who curses his father or his mother,

His lamp will go out in the midst of darkness.

An inheritance gained hurriedly at the beginning

In the end will not be blessed.

Do not say, “I will repay evil”;

Hope in Yahweh, and He will save you.

Differing weights are an abomination to Yahweh,

And a deceitful balance is not good.

The steps of a man are from Yahweh,

How then can man understand his way?

It is a trap for a man to say rashly, “It is holy!”

And after the vows to make inquiry.

A wise king winnows the wicked,

And turns the threshing wheel over them.

The breath of man is the lamp of Yahweh,

Searching all the innermost parts of his body.

Lovingkindness and truth will guard the king,

And he upholds his throne by lovingkindness.

The honor of young men is their strength,

And the majesty of old men is their gray hair.

Stripes that wound scour away evil,

And strokes reach the innermost parts of the body.

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