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Proverbs 20 :: New King James Version (NKJV)

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Wine Is a Mocker
Unchecked Copy BoxPro 20:1 - Wine is a mocker,
Strong drink is a brawler,
And whoever is led astray by it is not wise.
Unchecked Copy BoxPro 20:2 - The wrath[fn] of a king is like the roaring of a lion;
Whoever provokes him to anger sins against his own life.
Unchecked Copy BoxPro 20:3 - It is honorable for a man to stop striving,
Since any fool can start a quarrel.
Unchecked Copy BoxPro 20:4 - The lazy man will not plow because of winter;
He will beg during harvest and have nothing.
Unchecked Copy BoxPro 20:5 - Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water,
But a man of understanding will draw it out.
Unchecked Copy BoxPro 20:6 - Most men will proclaim each his own goodness,
But who can find a faithful man?
Unchecked Copy BoxPro 20:7 - The righteous man walks in his integrity;
His children are blessed after him.
Unchecked Copy BoxPro 20:8 - A king who sits on the throne of judgment
Scatters all evil with his eyes.
Unchecked Copy BoxPro 20:9 - Who can say, “I have made my heart clean,
I am pure from my sin”?
Unchecked Copy BoxPro 20:10 - Diverse weights and diverse measures,
They are both alike, an abomination to the LORD.
Unchecked Copy BoxPro 20:11 - Even a child is known by his deeds,
Whether what he does is pure and right.
Unchecked Copy BoxPro 20:12 - The hearing ear and the seeing eye,
The LORD has made them both.
Unchecked Copy BoxPro 20:13 - Do not love sleep, lest you come to poverty;
Open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with bread.
Unchecked Copy BoxPro 20:14 - It is good for nothing,”[fn] cries the buyer;
But when he has gone his way, then he boasts.
Unchecked Copy BoxPro 20:15 - There is gold and a multitude of rubies,
But the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.
Unchecked Copy BoxPro 20:16 - Take the garment of one who is surety for a stranger,
And hold it as a pledge when it is for a seductress.
Unchecked Copy BoxPro 20:17 - Bread gained by deceit is sweet to a man,
But afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel.
Unchecked Copy BoxPro 20:18 - Plans are established by counsel;
By wise counsel wage war.
Unchecked Copy BoxPro 20:19 - He who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets;
Therefore do not associate with one who flatters with his lips.
Unchecked Copy BoxPro 20:20 - Whoever curses his father or his mother,
His lamp will be put out in deep darkness.
Unchecked Copy BoxPro 20:21 - An inheritance gained hastily at the beginning
Will not be blessed at the end.
Unchecked Copy BoxPro 20:22 - Do not say, “I will recompense evil”;
Wait for the LORD, and He will save you.
Unchecked Copy BoxPro 20:23 - Diverse weights are an abomination to the LORD,
And dishonest scales are not good.
Unchecked Copy BoxPro 20:24 - A man’s steps are of the LORD;
How then can a man understand his own way?
Unchecked Copy BoxPro 20:25 - It is a snare for a man to devote rashly something as holy,
And afterward to reconsider his vows.
Unchecked Copy BoxPro 20:26 - A wise king sifts out the wicked,
And brings the threshing wheel over them.
Unchecked Copy BoxPro 20:27 - The spirit of a man is the lamp of the LORD,
Searching all the inner depths of his heart.[fn]
Unchecked Copy BoxPro 20:28 - Mercy and truth preserve the king,
And by lovingkindness he upholds his throne.
Unchecked Copy BoxPro 20:29 - The glory of young men is their strength,
And the splendor of old men is their gray head.
Unchecked Copy BoxPro 20:30 - Blows that hurt cleanse away evil,
As do stripes the inner depths of the heart.[fn]
NKJV Footnotes
Literally fear or terror which is produced by the king’s wrath
Literally evil, evil
Literally the rooms of the belly
Literally the rooms of the belly
NKJV

New King James Version, © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

The text of the New King James Version (NKJV) appearing on or deriving from this or any other web page is for personal use only. Any other use of the NKJV must be in conformity with the Quotation Policy for the New King James Version. For more information about the New King James Version, the Quotation Policy, and for inquiries about permission to use the New King James Version, go to Thomas Nelson, Inc..

For more information on this translation, see the NKJV Preface.

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