Proverbs 20

1 Wine is a mocker and beer is a brawler. Whoever is led astray by them is not wise.

Drinking a lot of wine or [other] strong drinks causes people to start fighting; it is foolish to become drunk/intoxicated.

2 The terror of a king is like the roaring of a lion. He who provokes him to anger forfeits his own life.

Being afraid of a king when he is angry is like [SIM] being afraid of a lion when it growls/roars; if you cause the king to become angry, he may execute you.

3 It is an honour for a man to keep aloof from strife, but every fool will be quarrelling.

[People] respect those who stay away from disputes/arguments; foolish people [love to] quarrel.

4 The sluggard will not plough by reason of the winter; therefore he shall beg in harvest, and have nothing.

[If] a lazy man does not plow [his fields at the right/proper time], he will look for [crops] at harvest [time], but there will be nothing there.

5 Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out.

[Just] as it is difficult to bring up water from a deep well, it is difficult to know what people are thinking, but someone who has good sense/insight will be able to find out what people are thinking.

6 Many men claim to be men of unfailing love, but who can find a faithful man?

Many people proclaim that they can be trusted [to do what they say that they will do], but it is very difficult to find [RHQ] someone who can really be trusted.

7 A righteous man walks in integrity. Blessed are his children after him.

If parents conduct their lives as they should, [God] blesses their children (OR, their children are very happy/fortunate).

8 A king who sits on the throne of judgement scatters away all evil with his eyes.

A king who sits on his throne to judge people can [easily] [MTY] find out what things that people have done are good and what things are evil.

9 Who can say, “I have made my heart pure. I am clean and without sin”?

There is no one [RHQ] who can truthfully say, “I do not know of any wrong things that I have done; I have (gotten rid of all my sinful behavior/quit doing what is sinful).”

10 Differing weights and differing measures, both of them alike are an abomination to the LORD.

Yahweh detests people who use weights that are not right and measures that are not correct.

11 Even a child makes himself known by his doings, whether his work is pure, and whether it is right.

Even children show by what they do whether they are good or not; they show whether (what they do/their behavior) is honest and right [or not].

12 The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the LORD has made even both of them.

Two of the things that Yahweh has created [for us] are ears to hear things and eyes to see things.

13 Don’t love sleep, lest you come to poverty. Open your eyes, and you shall be satisfied with bread.

If you want to sleep [all the time], you will become poor; if you stay awake [and work], you will have plenty of food.

14 “It’s no good, it’s no good,” says the buyer; but when he is gone his way, then he boasts.

People [look at things that they are about] to buy, [and in order to get it for a lower price sometimes they] say, “(It is no good/It is poor quality),” but [after they buy it], they go and boast [about having bought it for a cheap price].

15 There is gold and abundance of rubies, but the lips of knowledge are a rare jewel.

Gold and precious stones are [valuable], but wise words [MTY] are more valuable.

16 Take the garment of one who puts up collateral for a stranger; and hold him in pledge for a wayward woman.

If you foolishly promise to a stranger that you will pay what he owes if he is unable to pay it [DOU], [you deserve to] have someone take your coat from you.

17 Fraudulent food is sweet to a man, but afterwards his mouth is filled with gravel.

People [may] think that food that they acquire by doing what is dishonest will taste very good, but later [they will not enjoy what they have done any more than they would enjoy] eating gravel/sand.

18 Plans are established by advice; by wise guidance you wage war!

When people give you good advice, [if you do what they suggest], your plans will succeed; so be sure to get good advice from wise people before you start fighting a war.

19 He who goes about as a tale-bearer reveals secrets; therefore don’t keep company with him who opens wide his lips.

Those who go around telling gossip are [always] telling secrets to [others]; so stay away from people who foolishly talk [too much].

20 Whoever curses his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in blackness of darkness.

If someone curses his father or his mother, his life will be ended, [just] like a lamp is extinguished.

21 An inheritance quickly gained at the beginning won’t be blessed in the end.

If you very quickly take the property that your parents promise will be yours after they die, you will not receive any good/blessing from it.

22 Don’t say, “I will pay back evil.” Wait for the LORD, and he will save you.

Do not say, “I will do evil to those who do evil to me;” wait for Yahweh [to do something about it], and he will (help you/[do what is right]).

23 The LORD detests differing weights, and dishonest scales are not pleasing.

Yahweh detests [those who use] dishonest scales and weights that are not accurate/correct.

24 A man’s steps are from the LORD; how then can man understand his way?

Yahweh is the one who has decided what will happen to us, so (how can we (understand/know) what will happen before it happens?/we humans certainly cannot (understand/know) what will happen before it happens.) [RHQ]

25 It is a snare to a man to make a rash dedication, then later to consider his vows.

You should think carefully before you solemnly promise to dedicate something to God, because later you might be sorry you have promised to do it.

26 A wise king winnows out the wicked, and drives the threshing wheel over them.

Wise kings find out [MET] which people have done what is wrong, and they punish them very severely [IDM].

27 The spirit of man is the LORD’s lamp, searching all his innermost parts.

Our consciences are [like] lamps that Yahweh [has given to us to enable us to know what we are thinking] [MET]; they reveal what is hidden deep in our (minds/inner beings).

28 Love and faithfulness keep the king safe. His throne is sustained by love.

Kings will continue to rule as long as they faithfully love their people and are loyal to them and as long as they rule righteously/fairly.

29 The glory of young men is their strength. The splendour of old men is their grey hair.

We honor/admire young people because they are strong, but we respect [MTY] old people more because they are wise.

30 Wounding blows cleanse away evil, and beatings purge the innermost parts.

When we are beaten or whipped, it [can] cause us to quit doing what is evil in our lives; when someone wounds us [by punishing us], it [can] cause our behavior to become good.