Proverbs 20:7–15

²His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed.

²⁶He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed.

³⁹And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them:

¹²For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward.

³⁹For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

³For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth.

⁴I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

²²A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.

¹BETTER is the poor that walketh in his integrity, than he that is perverse in his lips, and is a fool.

²He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart.

⁷And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.

⁶And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.

²He that walketh in his uprightness feareth the Lord: but he that is perverse in his ways despiseth him.

¹JUDGE me, O Lord; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the Lord; therefore I shall not slide.

¹¹For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,

¹²Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

¹⁵He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;

¹¹But as for me, I will walk in mine integrity: redeem me, and be merciful unto me.

⁵Take away the wicked from before the king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness.

²⁶A wise king scattereth the wicked, and bringeth the wheel over them.

¹⁴The king that faithfully judgeth the poor, his throne shall be established for ever.

⁴The king’s strength also loveth judgment; thou dost establish equity, thou executest judgment and righteousness in Jacob.

⁹For, lo, thine enemies, O Lord, for, lo, thine enemies shall perish; all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.

³And David’s men said unto him, Behold, we be afraid here in Judah: how much more then if we come to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?

⁴Then David inquired of the Lord yet again. And the Lord answered him and said, Arise, go down to Keilah; for I will deliver the Philistines into thine hand.

⁴And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain.

¹BEHOLD, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment.

¹²It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness: for the throne is established by righteousness.

⁶Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me: he that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me.

⁷He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house: he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight.

⁸I will early destroy all the wicked of the land; that I may cut off all wicked doers from the city of the Lord.

⁴He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor.

²⁰For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.

⁸If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

⁹If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

¹⁰If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

⁴⁶If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near;

⁴Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.

¹⁴What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?

⁴For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord.

²For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.

⁴How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be clean that is born of a woman?

³⁶If they sin against thee, (for there is no man which sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them over before their enemies, and they carry them away captives unto a land far off or near;

⁵Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

¹A FALSE balance is abomination to the Lord: but a just weight is his delight.

²³Divers weights are an abomination unto the Lord; and a false balance is not good.

¹³¶ Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small.

¹⁴Thou shalt not have in thine house divers measures, a great and a small.

¹⁵But thou shalt have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure shalt thou have: that thy days may be lengthened in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

³⁵¶ Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure.

¹⁰¶ Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is abominable?

¹¹Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights?

¹¹A just weight and balance are the Lord’s: all the weights of the bag are his work.

⁴¶ Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail,

⁵Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit?

⁶That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?

⁷The Lord hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works.

⁸But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

²⁵The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein: for it is an abomination to the Lord thy God.

²⁶Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it: but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing.

¹⁶Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

⁴³For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

⁴⁴For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.

⁸The way of man is froward and strange: but as for the pure, his work is right.

⁴⁶And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions.

⁴⁷And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.

¹⁵For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb.

⁵Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

³The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.

⁶⁶And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child shall this be! And the hand of the Lord was with him.

¹⁵Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.

¹³Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

¹⁴And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:

¹⁵For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

¹⁶But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.

⁹He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see?

¹⁸Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.

¹⁷That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:

¹⁸The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

¹¹And the Lord said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the Lord?

¹⁸To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

¹⁵Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger.

¹¹Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;

⁴He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.

¹¹He that tilleth his land shall be satisfied with bread: but he that followeth vain persons is void of understanding.

¹¹And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.

¹⁰For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.

¹⁴Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.

⁶So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.

⁴The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.

⁹How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?

¹⁰Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:

¹¹So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.

³⁰I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding;

³¹And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down.

³²Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction.

³³Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:

³⁴So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man.

³⁴Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.

⁶That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified.

⁷¶ He is a merchant, the balances of deceit are in his hand: he loveth to oppress.

⁸And Ephraim said, Yet I am become rich, I have found me out substance: in all my labours they shall find none iniquity in me that were sin.

¹⁰Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.

¹²As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear.

¹¹For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.

¹⁶How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver!

²⁴Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.

⁹And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs.

¹⁰The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth.

¹¹The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.

⁷The lips of the wise disperse knowledge: but the heart of the foolish doeth not so.

¹⁵She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.

¹⁴How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

¹⁵And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

²⁹Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

¹²But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding?

¹³Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living.

¹⁴The depth saith, It is not in me: and the sea saith, It is not with me.

¹⁵It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof.

¹⁶It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire.

¹⁷The gold and the crystal cannot equal it: and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold.

¹⁸No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for the price of wisdom is above rubies.

¹⁹The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it be valued with pure gold.

²⁰The tongue of the just is as choice silver: the heart of the wicked is little worth.

²¹The lips of the righteous feed many: but fools die for want of wisdom.

²¹The wise in heart shall be called prudent: and the sweetness of the lips increaseth learning.

²³A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoken in due season, how good is it!