Advice on Drinking, Laziness & Fairness |
Proverbs 20:1-30 Proverbs [in Smaller Chunks] |
Wine is a mocker, [a.k.a. deceitful] & strong drink [causes] raging. [Whoever] is deceived [by them] isn’t wise. [Proverbs 23:31-32 [Don’t] look upon the wine when it is red, when it [sparkles] in the cup, when it moves [around.] At the [end,] it bites like a [snake] & stings like [a cobra.] |
The fear of a king is [like] a roaring lion: [whoever] provokes him to anger sins against his own [life.] It’s [honorable ] for a man to cease from [arguments:] but every fool will [get involved.] The [lazy] won’t plow, [because] of the cold: therefore he shall beg [during] harvest [time] & have nothing. |
[Advice] in the heart of man is like deep water [of a well:] but a man of understanding will draw it out. Most men will [declare to] everyone his own goodness: but who can find a [truthful] man? |
The [honest] man walks in his integrity & his children are blessed [because of] him. A king, [who sits on] the throne of [justice, wipes] away all evil [from] his eyes. Who can say, I have made my heart clean; I am pure from my sin? |
[False] weights & measures [are] both an abomination to the Lord. Even a child is known by his [actions,] whether his work [is] pure & right. The Lord has made both the ear [that hears] & the eye [that sees.] |
[Don’t] love sleep, lest you come to poverty: open your eyes [& work] & you shall be satisfied with bread. The buyer [says,] It's [worthless,] it's [worthless,] but boasts [about the great deal] when he [has] gone [on] his way. |
There is gold & a multitude of rubies: but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel. Take his [clothing from him who] is [a guarantor] for a [stranger’s debt] & take [collateral from] him for a [seductress.] |
[The] bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel. Every purpose is established by counsel & with good advice, [you can decide to] make war. |
He [who] goes [around like] a [gossip] reveals secrets: therefore, [don’t get involved] with him, [who] flatters with his lips. [Whoever] curses his father or his mother, shall [have] his lamp put out in [hazy] darkness. |
[Matthew 15:4 For God commanded, saying, Honor your father & mother: & He [who] curses [his] father or mother, let him die the death.] At the beginning, an inheritance may be gotten hastily: but the end [of it] shall not be blessed. |
[Don’t say,] I will [repay] evil; but wait on the Lord & He shall save you. [1 Thessalonians 5:15 See that [no one gives] evil for evil to any man: but [always] follow [what] is good, both among yourselves & to all men.] |
[False] weights are an abomination to the Lord & a false [scale] isn’t good. Man’s [steps] are of the Lord; how can man then understand his own [path?] It is a [trap] to the man, [who] devours [what] is holy & [afterward] vows to [ask about it.] |
A wise king scatters [around] the wicked & brings wheel [for threshing] over them. [Man’s] spirit is the [lamp] of the Lord, searching all the [inner] parts of [his being.] |
Mercy & truth preserve the king & his throne is [upheld] by mercy. The glory of young men is their strength & the beauty of old men is [their] gray head. The blueness of a wound [cleanses] away evil: so do stripes [from a whip, cleanse] the [inner] parts of the [person’s being.] |