Proverbs 20  New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition

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