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A dark storeroom with one small clay oil lamp lit on the earth floor, its light reaching a few tall jars and no further.

Solomon’s sayings

Proverbs 20

There’s the you people see, and the other one. This chapter goes looking for the other one.

30 verses≈ 3 minBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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Where we are

  1. 1–7The father's talksWhy the book exists, then a father to his son
  2. 8–9Wisdom callsHer house and Folly's
  3. 10–22:16Solomon's sayingsTwo lines at a timeChapter 20
  4. 22:17–24The sayings of the wiseThirty sayings, and a few more
  5. 25–29Hezekiah's collectionMore of Solomon, copied out later
  6. 30AgurNumbered sayings from a weary man
  7. 31LemuelA mother's words, and the noble wife

Wine Is a Mocker

Early morning on a stone bench inside a town gateway: a clay wine jar on its side and one clay cup standing beside it, a dark ring dried on the stone.

Wine is a mocker, strong drink is a brawler,

and whoever is led astray by them is not wise.

Tap to go deeper: meaning, history and related Scripture

The terror of a king is like the roar of a lion;

whoever provokes him forfeits his own life.

It is honorable for a man to resolve a dispute,

but any fool will quarrel.

The slacker does not plow in season;

at harvest time he looks, but nothing is there.

Sayings

What’s inside

  1. Wisdom

    Deep waters drawn out

    The intentions of a man’s heart are deep waters,

    but a man of understanding draws them out.

  2. Friends

    Who can find a trustworthy man?

    Many a man proclaims his loving devotion,

    but who can find a trustworthy man?

  3. Family

    Blessed are his children

    The righteous man walks with integrity;

    blessed are his children after him.

  4. Kings

    A king sifts out evil

    A king who sits on a throne to judge

    sifts out all evil with his eyes.

Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure; I am cleansed from my sin”?

Reflect

Take it home

What do you claim about yourself that only God could check?

Sayings

Eyes open

  1. Justice

    Differing weights

    Differing weights and unequal measures—

    both are detestable to the LORD.

  2. Wisdom

    Known by his actions

    Even a young man is known by his actions—

    whether his conduct is pure and upright.

  3. The LORD

    Ears and eyes

    Ears that hear and eyes that see—

    the LORD has made them both.

  4. Work

    Do not love sleep

    Do not love sleep, or you will grow poor;

    open your eyes, and you will have plenty of food.

A torn round of flat bread on a clay plate in hard daylight, dark grit and small sharp stones in the broken crumb.

Food gained by fraud is sweet to a man,

but later his mouth is full of gravel.

Question

Quick question

Back to verse 9 and its question.

Who can truly say, “I am cleansed from my sin”?

Sayings

Plans and secrets

  1. Wisdom

    Plans by consultation

    Set plans by consultation,

    and wage war under sound guidance.

  2. Words

    He who reveals secrets

    He who reveals secrets is a constant gossip;

    avoid the one who babbles with his lips.

  3. Family

    He who curses his parents

    Whoever curses his father or mother,

    his lamp will be extinguished in deepest darkness.

  4. Money

    An inheritance gained quickly

    An inheritance gained quickly

    will not be blessed in the end.

Do not say, “I will avenge this evil!” Wait on the LORD, and He will save you.

On a market table, a hand-held beam balance at rest beside two dome-shaped stone weights, one plainly smaller, half hidden by a fold of the seller’s sleeve.

Unequal weights are detestable to the LORD,

and dishonest scales are no good.

A man’s steps are from the LORD,

so how can anyone understand his own way?

It is a trap for a man to dedicate something rashly,

only later to reconsider his vows.

Pray

Say it to Him

LORD, search me. Light up the rooms I keep shut. Keep me from the revenge I have rehearsed in my head, and teach me to wait on You.

A wise king separates out the wicked

and drives the threshing wheel over them.

In a stone courtyard in late light, a strong young man with a full sack on his shoulder pauses while a white-haired grandfather sits mending a net and tells him something.

The spirit of a man is the lamp of the LORD,

searching out his inmost being.

Loving devotion and faithfulness preserve a king;

by these he maintains his throne.

The glory of young men is their strength,

and gray hair is the splendor of the old.

0:17

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Lashes and wounds scour evil,

and beatings cleanse the inmost parts.

You’ve experienced

Proverbs 20

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A verse to carry with you

Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure; I am cleansed from my sin”?

Proverbs 20:9

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