Wine ais a mocker,
Strong drink is a brawler,
And whoever is led astray by it is not wise.
2 The wrath of a king is like the roaring of a lion;
Whoever provokes him to anger sins against his own life.
3 aIt is honorable for a man to stop striving,
Since any fool can start a quarrel.
4 aThe lazy man will not plow because of winter;
bHe will beg during harvest and have nothing.
5 Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water,
But a man of understanding will draw it out.
6 Most men will proclaim each his own goodness,
But who can find a faithful man?
7 aThe righteous man walks in his integrity;
bHis children are blessed after him.
8 A king who sits on the throne of judgment
Scatters all evil with his eyes.
9 aWho can say, “I have made my heart clean,
I am pure from my sin”?
10 aDiverse weights and diverse measures,
They are both alike, an abomination to the Lord.
11 Even a child is aknown by his deeds,
Whether what he does is pure and right.
12 aThe hearing ear and the seeing eye,
The Lord has made them both.
13 aDo not love sleep, lest you come to poverty;
Open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with bread.
14 “It is good for nothing,” cries the buyer;
But when he has gone his way, then he boasts.
15 There is gold and a multitude of rubies,
But athe lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.
16 aTake the garment of one who is surety for a stranger,
And hold it as a pledge when it is for a seductress.
17 aBread gained by deceit is sweet to a man,
But afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel.
18 aPlans are established by counsel;
bBy wise counsel wage war.
19 aHe who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets;
Therefore do not associate with one bwho flatters with his lips.
20 aWhoever curses his father or his mother,
bHis lamp will be put out in deep darkness.
21 aAn inheritance gained hastily at the beginning
bWill not be blessed at the end.
22 aDo not say, “I will recompense evil”;
bWait for the Lord, and He will save you.
23 Diverse weights are an abomination to the Lord,
And dishonest scales are not good.
24 A man’s steps are of the Lord;
How then can a man understand his own way?
25 It is a snare for a man to devote rashly something as holy,
And afterward to reconsider his vows.
26 aA wise king sifts out the wicked,
And brings the threshing wheel over them.
27 aThe spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord,
Searching all the inner depths of his heart.
28 aMercy and truth preserve the king,
And by lovingkindness he upholds his throne.
29 The glory of young men is their strength,
And athe splendor of old men is their gray head.
30 Blows that hurt cleanse away evil,
As do stripes the inner depths of the heart.
The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson.
All rights reserved.