Proverbs 20:4-14

4 1The sluggard does not plow in the autumn; 2he will seek at harvest and have nothing.
5 The purpose in a man's heart is like 3deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out.
6 Many a man 4proclaims his own steadfast love, but 5a faithful man who can find?
7 The righteous who 6walks in his integrity-- 7blessed are his children after him!
8 8A king who sits on the throne of judgment 9winnows all evil with his eyes.
9 10Who can say, "I have made my heart pure; I am clean from my sin"?
10 11Unequal[a] weights and unequal measures are both alike an abomination to the LORD.
11 Even a child 12makes himself known by his acts, by whether his conduct is pure and upright.[b]
12 13The hearing ear and the seeing eye, 14the LORD has made them both.
13 15Love not sleep, lest you 16come to poverty; open your eyes, and you will have 17plenty of bread.
14 "Bad, bad," says the buyer, but when he goes away, then he boasts.

Cross References 17

  • 1. [Proverbs 19:24]
  • 2. Proverbs 19:15; [Proverbs 6:11]
  • 3. Proverbs 18:4
  • 4. [Proverbs 25:14; Matthew 6:2; Luke 18:11]
  • 5. [Psalms 12:1]
  • 6. See Proverbs 19:1
  • 7. [1 Kings 15:4; Psalms 37:26; Psalms 112:2; Jeremiah 33:20, 21]
  • 8. [Proverbs 16:10]
  • 9. [ver. 26; Proverbs 25:5; Psalms 101:5]
  • 10. See 1 Kings 8:46
  • 11. ver. 23; See Proverbs 11:1
  • 12. [Matthew 7:16]
  • 13. Proverbs 15:31; Proverbs 25:12
  • 14. Exodus 4:11; Psalms 94:9
  • 15. [Proverbs 6:4; Proverbs 19:15; Proverbs 31:15; Romans 12:11]
  • 16. [ver. 4]
  • 17. Proverbs 12:11

Footnotes 2

  • [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
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.