Proverbs 20King James Version
Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging, and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. The hoary head is a crown of glory. Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out. The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord.
Wine is a mocker; strong drink is raging. The king's wrath is like a lion's roar. 'The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the LORD hath made even both of them' (verse 12). Do not say 'I will repay evil'; wait on the LORD. Honest weights and measures are a repeated concern. 'A man's steps are ordered of the LORD: how can a man then understand his own way?' (verse 24).
Human perception is limited; God's oversight is total. Vengeance belongs to God; waiting is the wise response to injury.
20:22: 'Say not thou, I will recompense evil; but wait on the LORD, and he shall save thee.' The most direct anti-vengeance instruction in Proverbs.
Commercial and legal life in ancient Israel. The king's role in weighing justice (verse 8) reflects the judicial function of ancient Near Eastern monarchs, where the throne was also a court.
Solomon's wisdom collected; no named characters. The king (verse 2, 8) as a figure of earthly authority; God as the ultimate perceiver of paths.
Chapter 20 returns several times to the theme of honest commerce (verses 10, 14, 17, 23), suggesting either editorial clustering or a cultural moment of concern about marketplace ethics. The verse about God ordering a man's steps (24) picks up chapter 16's theme and deepens it: even self-understanding is partial.
For when someone has wronged you and your instinct is to get even. Verse 22 is specific: don't. Let it go to the one whose judgment is actually accurate.
1Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.
2The fear of a king is as the roaring of a lion: whoso provoketh him to anger sinneth against his own soul.
3It is an honour for a man to cease from strife: but every fool will be meddling.
4The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing.
5Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out.
6Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?
7The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him.
8A king that sitteth in the throne of judgment scattereth away all evil with his eyes.
9Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?
10Divers weights, and divers measures, both of them are alike abomination to the LORD.
11Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.
12The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the LORD hath made even both of them.
13Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.
14It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer: but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth.
15There is gold, and a multitude of rubies: but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.
16Take his garment that is surety for a stranger: and take a pledge of him for a strange woman.
17Bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel.
18Every purpose is established by counsel: and with good advice make war.
19He that goeth about as a talebearer revealeth secrets: therefore meddle not with him that flattereth with his lips.
20Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness.
21An inheritance may be gotten hastily at the beginning; but the end thereof shall not be blessed.
22Say not thou, I will recompense evil; but wait on the LORD, and he shall save thee.
23Divers weights are an abomination unto the LORD; and a false balance is not good.
24Man's goings are of the LORD; how can a man then understand his own way?
25It is a snare to the man who devoureth that which is holy, and after vows to make enquiry.
26A wise king scattereth the wicked, and bringeth the wheel over them.
27The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly.
28Mercy and truth preserve the king: and his throne is upholden by mercy.
29The glory of young men is their strength: and the beauty of old men is the gray head.
30The blueness of a wound cleanseth away evil: so do stripes the inward parts of the belly.