Proverbs 20)

1 Wine is a mocker, strong drink is a brawler:
And whosoever errs (goes astray) thereby is not wise. (Illustrations: Noah [Gen. 9:20,21]; Nabal [1 Sam. 25:36]; Elah [1 Kings 16:8-10]; Ben-hadad [1 Kings 20:16-21]; Ephraim [Isa. 28:7]; Belshazzar,&c. [Dan. 5. Jer. 51:39,57]; Nineveh [Nah. 1:10]; and probably Nadab and Abihu [Lev. 10;8,9].)
2 The fear of a king is as the roaring of a lion:
Whoso provokes him to anger errs against his own soul.
3 It is an honor for a man to cease from strife: (Illustrations: Abraham [Gen. 13:7-9. Cp. Prov. 17:14]; David [1 Sam. 25:32-34].)
But every fool (= lax or careless habit of mind and body) will be breaking out.
4 The sluggard will not plow (plowing always done during the early rains) by reason of the Autumn (Autumn put for abundance of fruits possessed at that time.);
Therefore shall he beg in 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 every one his own goodness:
But a faithful man who can find?
7 The just man walks in his integrity:
His sons are happy after him.
8 A king that sits in the throne of judgment
Scatters away all evil with his eyes.
9 Who is able to say, "I have made my heart clean,
I am pure from my sin?" (Illustrations: Job before he learned his lesson [Job 9:17; 10:7; 11:4; 16:17; 23:10,11; 27:5; 29:14; 31:1; cp. 33:9. But not after, see 42:5,6]. None of God's own people say this. Not David [2 Sam. 12:13. Cp. Ps. 51:1-7]; not Psalmist [119:176]; not Ezra [Ezra 9:6]; not Nehemiah [Neh. 9:33,34]; not Isaiah [Isa. 6:5,6]; not Daniel [Dan. 9:8]; not Peter [[Luke 5:8]; not John [1 John 1:8]; not James [Jas. 3:2]; not Paul [Rom. 7;18. 1 Tim. 1:15])
10 Diverse weights, and diverse measures, (Put for all kinds of weights and measures.)
Both of them are alike abomination to the LORD.
11 Even a child is known by his doings,
Whether his work be accurate, and whether it be correct.
12 The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, (Illustrations: Moses [Ex. 4:11]; Hagar [Gen. 21:19]; Elisha's servant [2 Kings 6;17]; Lydia [Acts 16:14.)
The LORD has made even both of them.
13 Love not sleep, lest you become disposed;
Open your eyes, and you shall be satisfied with bread.
14 "It is very bad, it is very bad," says the buyer:
But when he is gone his way, then he boasts.
15 There is gold, and a multitude of rubies:
But the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.
16 Take his garment that is surety for a apostate:
And who has become security for for a foreign woman.
17 Bread (put for foods of all kind) gained by lying is sweet to a man;
But afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel (or grit. See Gen. 3:14, implying utmost disappointment).
18 Every purpose is established by counsel:
And with good advice make war.
19 He that goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets:
Therefore mingle (mix yourself up) not with him that flatters with his lips.
20 Whoso reviles his father or his mother,
His lamp shall be put out (denoting that he shall die childless) in obscure darkness.
21 An inheritance may be gotten hastily at the beginning;
But the end thereof shall not be happy.
22 Say not you, "I will recompense evil;"
But wait for the LORD, and He shall save you.
23 Diverse weights are an abomination to the LORD;
And a false balance is not good.
24 A strong man's goings are of the LORD;
How can an ordinary man then understand his own way?
25 It is a snare to the man who rashly promises that which is holy (see Ex. 3:5),
And after vows to make inquiry.
26 A wise king winnows out the lawless,
And brings the wheel (i.e. the threshing instrument) over them.
27 The spirit of man is the lamp (or light) of the LORD,
Searching all the inward parts of the belly. (Put for the heart, and heart put for its thoughts, i.e. mind)
28 Grace (or loving-kindness, or favor) and truth preserve the king:
And his throne is upheld by mercy.
29 The glory of young men is their strength:
And the beauty of old men is the grey head.
30 The blueness of a wound is cleansing [though it be] an evil:
So do stripes the inward parts of the belly [though they be an evil].

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