Proverbs 20
Wine and drunkenness lead to foolishness, and those who provoke a king or engage in contentions will suffer. A wise person will seek counsel and separate themselves from foolish disputes. The lazy will ultimately suffer, while the just and simple will leave a blessed legacy. True wisdom and faithfulness are rare, and those who are deceitful or unjust will be punished.
It is a luxurious thing, wine, and inebriation is tumultuous. Anyone who is delighted by this will not be wiseJust like the roaring of a lion, so also is the dread of a king. Whoever provokes him sins in his own soulHonor is for the man who separates himself from contentions. But all the foolish meddle in altercationsBecause 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 himCounsel in the heart of a man is like deep waters. But a wise man will draw it outMany men are called merciful. But who will find a faithful manThe just who walks in his simplicity shall leave behind him blessed sonsThe king who sits on the throne of judgment scatters all evil with his gazeWho is able to say: "My heart is clean. I am pure from sin?Diverse weights, diverse measures: both are abominable with GodA child may be understood by his interests: whether his works may be clean and uprightThe hearing ear and the seeing eye: the Lord has made them bothDo not love sleep, lest deprivation oppress you. Open your eyes and be satisfied with bread"It is bad, it is bad," says every buyer; and when he has withdrawn, then he will boastThere is gold, and there are a multitude of jewels. But lips of knowledge are a precious vesselTake away the vestments of him who stands up to vouch for a stranger, and take a pledge from him instead of from outsidersThe bread of lies is sweet to a man. But afterwards, his mouth will be filled with pebblesPlans are strengthened by counsels. And wars are to be handled by governmentsDo not become involved with him who reveals mysteries, and who walks deceitfully, and who enlarges his lipsWhoever curses his father and mother, his lamp will be extinguished in the midst of darknessWhen an inheritance is obtained hastily in the beginning, in the end it will be without a blessingDo not say, "I will repay evil." Wait for the Lord, and he will free youDiverse weights are an abomination with the Lord. A deceitful balance is not goodThe steps of men are directed by the Lord. But who is the man able to understand his own wayIt is ruin for a man to devour what is holy, or, after making vows, to retract themA wise king scatters the impious and bends an archway over themThe spirit of a man is a lamp to the Lord, which investigates all the secrets of the inner selfMercy and truth guard the king, and his throne is strengthened by clemencyThe joy of youths is their strength. And the dignity of old men is their grey hairsThe bruise of a wound, as well as scourges, shall wipe away evils in the more secret places of the inner self
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