Wine, Kings, and Avoiding Conflict
Study note
The chapter opens with a warning that wine is a mocker and strong drink leads to trouble. A king's anger is dangerous, but it is honorable to avoid conflict. A lazy person will not plow in cold weather and will have nothing to harvest. Deep inside everyone are hidden thoughts, but a person of understanding can draw them out.
1 Wine will make a fool of you and beer will start a brawl. Anyone who is led down that path is not thinking straight. Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.
2 A king's anger is as frightening as the roar of a lion. Provoke him and you are gambling with your own life. The fear of a king is as the roaring of a lion: whoso provoketh him to anger sinneth against his own soul.
3 Walking away from a fight shows real strength of character, but any fool can jump in and start quarreling. It is an honour for a man to cease from strife: but every fool will be meddling.
4 A lazy farmer stays inside when planting season comes. When harvest arrives, he looks around puzzled that there is nothing to eat. The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing.
5 A person's true intentions are hidden deep down, like water at the bottom of a well. But someone with real insight knows how to draw those intentions out. Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out.
6 Many people will say they are loyal. But where can you find someone whose loyalty has truly been tested and proven? Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?
7 A person who does right and lives with integrity leaves a lasting blessing on their children. The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him.
Honesty, Hard Work, and God's Sovereignty
Study note
A wise king can see through evil. No one can claim a perfectly clean heart. God hates dishonest weights and measures. Even a child is known by their actions. God made both ears and eyes, reminding us He designed us to listen and see. Do not love sleep or you will become poor.
8 When a king sits down to judge, his sharp eye separates all the evil from what is before him. A king that sitteth in the throne of judgment scattereth away all evil with his eyes.
9 Nobody can honestly say, "My heart is completely clean. I have never done anything wrong." Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?
10 Using two different sets of weights and measures to cheat people is something the Lord hates. Divers weights, and divers measures, both of them are alike abomination to the LORD.
11 You can tell what kind of person even a young child is by paying attention to what they do. Their behavior reveals whether they are honest and good. Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.
12 The ability to hear and the ability to see are both gifts that the Lord has given you. The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the LORD hath made even both of them.
13 If sleeping is your hobby, you are going to end up broke. Get up, get going, and you will have more than enough. Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.
14 A buyer always says, "This is terrible quality! Way overpriced!" But the moment they walk away, they brag about the great deal they got. It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer: but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth.
15 Gold and jewels are everywhere, but a person who speaks with real knowledge is the rarest treasure of all. There is gold, and a multitude of rubies: but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.
16 If someone is foolish enough to guarantee a stranger's loan, take their coat as collateral. Hold onto it as security. Take his garment that is surety for a stranger: and take a pledge of him for a strange woman.
Planning, Patience, and Trusting God
Study note
Food gained by dishonesty may taste sweet at first, but it ends like a mouthful of gravel. Plans are established through seeking advice. Do not try to get revenge; wait for the Lord to handle it. God directs a person's steps, so how can anyone understand their own way? These proverbs encourage us to trust God with what we cannot control.
17 Food you got through cheating might taste good at first, but later your mouth will feel like it is full of sand. Bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel.
18 Good plans are built on good advice. Talk to wise people before you take on a big challenge. Every purpose is established by counsel: and with good advice make war.
19 People who gossip cannot keep their mouths shut, so keep your distance from anyone who talks too much. He that goeth about as a talebearer revealeth secrets: therefore meddle not with him that flattereth with his lips.
20 Anyone who curses their father or mother will have their light go out. They will be surrounded by total darkness. Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness.
21 An inheritance you rushed to get at the beginning will not turn out to be a blessing in the end. An inheritance may be gotten hastily at the beginning; but the end thereof shall not be blessed.
22 Do not say, "I am going to get even with them for what they did." Let the Lord handle it, and he will take care of you. Say not thou, I will recompense evil; but wait on the LORD, and he shall save thee.
23 The Lord despises rigged scales, and dishonest measuring is wrong. Divers weights are an abomination unto the LORD; and a false balance is not good.
24 The Lord is the one directing every step you take. So how could any person fully understand their own path? Man's goings are of the LORD; how can a man then understand his own way?
The King's Judgment and Inner Character
Study note
These final proverbs deal with rash promises, the way God searches the human spirit like a lamp searching a dark room, and how mercy and truth protect a king. The strength of young people is their energy, while the beauty of old people is their gray hair, representing their experience and wisdom.
25 It is dangerous to make a quick promise to God and only think about what you said afterward. It is a snare to the man who devoureth that which is holy, and after vows to make inquiry.
26 A king who is wise knows how to identify wicked people and bring judgment down on them. A wise king scattereth the wicked, and bringeth the wheel over them.
27 A person's spirit is like a lamp the Lord uses to search through every hidden corner of their being. The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly.
28 Loyal love and faithfulness are what keep a king safe. His power is sustained through love. Mercy and truth preserve the king: and his throne is upholden by mercy.
29 Young people can be proud of their physical strength, and older people can be proud of their gray hair. The glory of young men is their strength: and the beauty of old men is the gray head.
30 Sometimes painful experiences are what it takes to cleanse evil from the inside out. Suffering can reach places nothing else can. The blueness of a wound cleanseth away evil: so do stripes the inward parts of the belly.