CPDV - Proverbs - 20

20:1  It is a luxurious thing, wine, and inebriation is tumultuous. Anyone who is delighted by this will not be wise.

20:2  Just like the roaring of a lion, so also is the dread of a king. Whoever provokes him sins in his own soul.

20:3  Honor is for the man who separates himself from contentions. But all the foolish meddle in altercations.

20:4  Because of the cold, the lazy one was not willing to plough. Therefore, in the summer, he will beg, and it will not be given to him.

20:5  Counsel in the heart of a man is like deep waters. But a wise man will draw it out.

20:6  Many men are called merciful. But who will find a faithful man?

20:7  The just who walks in his simplicity shall leave behind him blessed sons.

20:8  The king who sits on the throne of judgment scatters all evil with his gaze.

20:9  Who is able to say: “My heart is clean. I am pure from sin?”

20:10  Diverse weights, diverse measures: both are abominable with God.

20:11  A child may be understood by his interests: whether his works may be clean and upright.

20:12  The hearing ear and the seeing eye: the Lord has made them both.

20:13  Do not love sleep, lest deprivation oppress you. Open your eyes and be satisfied with bread.

20:14  “It is bad, it is bad,” says every buyer; and when he has withdrawn, then he will boast.

20:15  There is gold, and there are a multitude of jewels. But lips of knowledge are a precious vessel.

20:16  Take away the vestments of him who stands up to vouch for a stranger, and take a pledge from him instead of from outsiders.

20:17  The bread of lies is sweet to a man. But afterwards, his mouth will be filled with pebbles.

20:18  Plans are strengthened by counsels. And wars are to be handled by governments.

20:19  Do not become involved with him who reveals mysteries, and who walks deceitfully, and who enlarges his lips.

20:20  Whoever curses his father and mother, his lamp will be extinguished in the midst of darkness.

20:21  When an inheritance is obtained hastily in the beginning, in the end it will be without a blessing.

20:22  Do not say, “I will repay evil.” Wait for the Lord, and he will free you.

20:23  Diverse weights are an abomination with the Lord. A deceitful balance is not good.

20:24  The steps of men are directed by the Lord. But who is the man able to understand his own way?

20:25  It is ruin for a man to devour what is holy, or, after making vows, to retract them.

20:26  A wise king scatters the impious and bends an archway over them.

20:27  The spirit of a man is a lamp to the Lord, which investigates all the secrets of the inner self.

20:28  Mercy and truth guard the king, and his throne is strengthened by clemency.

20:29  The joy of youths is their strength. And the dignity of old men is their grey hairs.

20:30  The bruise of a wound, as well as scourges, shall wipe away evils in the more secret places of the inner self.