HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 946
P RO VERBS 2 1
page 576
13
If you love sleep, you will end in poverty.
Keep your eyes open, and there will be
plenty to eat!
3
The Lord is more pleased when we do
what is right and just
than when we offer him sacrifices.
14
The buyer haggles over the price, saying,
“It’s worthless,”
then brags about getting a bargain!
4
Haughty eyes, a proud heart,
and evil actions are all sin.
5
15
Wise words are more valuable
than much gold and many rubies.
Good planning and hard work lead to
prosperity,
but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.
16
Get security from someone who guarantees
a stranger’s debt.
Get a deposit if he does it for foreigners.*
6
Wealth created by a lying tongue
is a vanishing mist and a deadly trap.*
7
17
Stolen bread tastes sweet,
but it turns to gravel in the mouth.
The violence of the wicked sweeps them
away,
because they refuse to do what is just.
18
Plans succeed through good counsel;
don’t go to war without wise advice.
8
The guilty walk a crooked path;
the innocent travel a straight road.
19
A gossip goes around telling secrets,
so don’t hang around with chatterers.
9
20
If you insult your father or mother,
your light will be snuffed out in total
darkness.
It’s better to live alone in the corner of
an attic
than with a quarrelsome wife in a
lovely home.
10
Evil people desire evil;
their neighbors get no mercy from them.
11
If you punish a mocker, the simpleminded
become wise;
if you instruct the wise, they will be all
the wiser.
12
The Righteous One* knows what is going
on in the homes of the wicked;
he will bring disaster on them.
13
Don’t trap yourself by making a rash
promise to God
and only later counting the cost.
Those who shut their ears to the cries of
the poor
will be ignored in their own time of need.
14
A secret gift calms anger;
a bribe under the table pacifies fury.
26
A wise king scatters the wicked like wheat,
then runs his threshing wheel over them.
15
Justice is a joy to the godly,
but it terrifies evildoers.
27
The Lord’s light penetrates the human
spirit,*
exposing every hidden motive.
16
The person who strays from common sense
will end up in the company of the dead.
17
28
Unfailing love and faithfulness protect
the king;
his throne is made secure through love.
Those who love pleasure become poor;
those who love wine and luxury will
never be rich.
18
29
The glory of the young is their strength;
the gray hair of experience is the
splendor of the old.
The wicked are punished in place of
the godly,
and traitors in place of the honest.
19
30
Physical punishment cleanses away evil;*
such discipline purifies the heart.
It’s better to live alone in the desert
than with a quarrelsome,
complaining wife.
20
The wise have wealth and luxury,
but fools spend whatever they get.
21
An inheritance obtained too early in life
is not a blessing in the end.
22
Don’t say, “I will get even for this wrong.”
Wait for the Lord to handle the matter.
23
The Lord detests double standards;
he is not pleased by dishonest scales.
24
The Lord directs our steps,
so why try to understand everything
along the way?
25
21
The king’s heart is like a stream of
water directed by the Lord;
he guides it wherever he pleases.
2
1
People may be right in their own eyes,
but the Lord examines their heart.
20:16 An alternate reading in the Masoretic Text is for a
promiscuous woman. 20:27 Or The human spirit is the
Lord’s light. 20:30 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
21:6 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads mist for those who seek
death. 21:12 Or The righteous man.