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20:1  Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.
20:2  The dread anger of a king is like the growling of a lion; anyone who provokes him to anger forfeits life itself.
20:3  It is honorable to refrain from strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel.
20:4  The lazy person does not plow in season; harvest comes, and there is nothing to be found.
20:5  The purposes in the human mind are like deep water, but the intelligent will draw them out.
20:6  Many proclaim themselves loyal, but who can find one worthy of trust?
20:7  The righteous walk in integrity— happy are the children who follow them!
20:8  A king who sits on the throne of judgment winnows all evil with his eyes.
20:9  Who can say, “I have made my heart clean; I am pure from my sin”?
20:10  Diverse weights and diverse measures are both alike an abomination to the Lord.
20:11  Even children make themselves known by their acts, by whether what they do is pure and right.
20:12  The hearing ear and the seeing eye— the Lord has made them both.
20:13  Do not love sleep, or else you will come to poverty; open your eyes, and you will have plenty of bread.
20:14  “Bad, bad,” says the buyer, then goes away and boasts.
20:15  There is gold, and abundance of costly stones; but the lips informed by knowledge are a precious jewel.
20:16  Take the garment of one who has given surety for a stranger; seize the pledge given as surety for foreigners.
20:17  Bread gained by deceit is sweet, but afterward the mouth will be full of gravel.
20:18  Plans are established by taking advice; wage war by following wise guidance.
20:19  A gossip reveals secrets; therefore do not associate with a babbler.
20:20  If you curse father or mother, your lamp will go out in utter darkness.
20:21  An estate quickly acquired in the beginning will not be blessed in the end.
20:22  Do not say, “I will repay evil”; wait for the Lord, and he will help you.
20:23  Differing weights are an abomination to the Lord, and false scales are not good.
20:24  All our steps are ordered by the Lord; how then can we understand our own ways?
20:25  It is a snare for one to say rashly, “It is holy,” and begin to reflect only after making a vow.
20:26  A wise king winnows the wicked, and drives the wheel over them.
20:27  The human spirit is the lamp of the Lord, searching every inmost part.
20:28  Loyalty and faithfulness preserve the king, and his throne is upheld by righteousness.
20:29  The glory of youths is their strength, but the beauty of the aged is their gray hair.
20:30  Blows that wound cleanse away evil; beatings make clean the innermost parts.