Proverbs 20:8-18

8 1A king who sits on the throne of judgment 2winnows all evil with his eyes.
9 3Who can say, "I have made my heart pure; I am clean from my sin"?
10 4Unequal[a] weights and unequal measures are both alike an abomination to the LORD.
11 Even a child 5makes himself known by his acts, by whether his conduct is pure and upright.[b]
12 6The hearing ear and the seeing eye, 7the LORD has made them both.
13 8Love not sleep, lest you 9come to poverty; open your eyes, and you will have 10plenty of bread.
14 "Bad, bad," says the buyer, but when he goes away, then he boasts.
15 There is gold and abundance of 11costly stones, 12but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.
16 13Take a man's garment when he has put up security for a stranger, and 14hold it in pledge when he puts up security for foreigners.[c]
17 15Bread gained by deceit is sweet to a man, but afterward his mouth will be full of 16gravel.
18 17Plans are established by counsel; by 18wise guidance 19wage war.

Cross References 19

  • 1. [Proverbs 16:10]
  • 2. [ver. 26; Proverbs 25:5; Psalms 101:5]
  • 3. See 1 Kings 8:46
  • 4. ver. 23; See Proverbs 11:1
  • 5. [Matthew 7:16]
  • 6. Proverbs 15:31; Proverbs 25:12
  • 7. Exodus 4:11; Psalms 94:9
  • 8. [Proverbs 6:4; Proverbs 19:15; Proverbs 31:15; Romans 12:11]
  • 9. [ver. 4]
  • 10. Proverbs 12:11
  • 11. Job 28:18
  • 12. [Proverbs 3:14, 15]
  • 13. Proverbs 27:13; [Proverbs 6:1; Proverbs 22:26]
  • 14. See Job 22:6
  • 15. [Proverbs 9:17]
  • 16. [Lamentations 3:16]
  • 17. [Proverbs 11:14; Proverbs 15:22]
  • 18. Proverbs 24:6
  • 19. Luke 14:31

Footnotes 3

  • [a]. Or Two kinds of; also verse 23
  • [b]. Or Even a child can dissemble in his actions, though his conduct seems pure and upright
  • [c]. Or for an adulteress (compare 27:13)
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.