# Proverbs 20 (New King James Version)
Wine Is a Mocker

##### Chapter 20
###### 1 Wine _is_ 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 _It is_ honorable for a man to stop striving,  
Since any fool can start a quarrel.

###### 4 The lazy _man_ will not plow because of winter;  
He 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 The righteous _man_ walks in his integrity;  
His children _are_ blessed after him.

###### 8 A king who sits on the throne of judgment  
Scatters all evil with his eyes.

###### 9 Who can say, "I have made my heart clean,  
I am pure from my sin"?

###### 10 Diverse weights _and_ diverse measures,  
They _are_ both alike, an abomination to the Lord.

###### 11 Even a child is known by his deeds,  
Whether what he does _is_ pure and right.

###### 12 The hearing ear and the seeing eye,  
The Lord has made them both.

###### 13 Do 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 the lips of knowledge _are_ a precious jewel.

###### 16 Take the garment of one who is surety _for_ a stranger,  
And hold it as a pledge _when it_ is for a seductress.

###### 17 Bread gained by deceit _is_ sweet to a man,  
But afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel.

###### 18 Plans are established by counsel;  
By wise counsel wage war.

###### 19 He who goes about _as_ a talebearer reveals secrets;  
Therefore do not associate with one who flatters with his lips.

###### 20 Whoever curses his father or his mother,  
His lamp will be put out in deep darkness.

###### 21 An inheritance gained hastily at the beginning  
Will not be blessed at the end.

###### 22 Do not say, "I will recompense evil";  
Wait 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 A wise king sifts out the wicked,  
And brings the threshing wheel over them.

###### 27 The spirit of a man _is_ the lamp of the Lord,  
Searching all the inner depths of his heart.

###### 28 Mercy and truth preserve the king,  
And by lovingkindness he upholds his throne.

###### 29 The glory of young men _is_ their strength,  
And the splendor of old men _is_ their gray head.

###### 30 Blows that hurt cleanse away evil,  
As _do_ stripes the inner depths of the heart.