4The sluggard does not plow after the autumn,
         So he begs during the harvest and has nothing.

5A plan in the heart of a man is like deep water,
         But a man of understanding draws it out.

6Many a man proclaims his own loyalty,
         But who can find a trustworthy man?

7A righteous man who walks in his integrity—
         How blessed are his sons after him.

8A king who sits on the throne of justice
         Disperses all evil with his eyes.

9Who can say, “I have cleansed my heart,
         I am pure from my sin”?

10Differing weights and differing measures,
         Both of them are abominable to the LORD.

11It is by his deeds that a lad distinguishes himself
         If his conduct is pure and right.

12The hearing ear and the seeing eye,
         The LORD has made both of them.

13Do not love sleep, or you will become poor;
         Open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with food.

14“Bad, bad,” says the buyer,
         But when he goes his way, then he boasts.

15There is gold, and an abundance of jewels;
         But the lips of knowledge are a more precious thing.

16Take his garment when he becomes surety for a stranger;
         And for foreigners, hold him in pledge.

17Bread obtained by falsehood is sweet to a man,
         But afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel.

18Prepare plans by consultation,
         And make war by wise guidance.

19He who goes about as a slanderer reveals secrets,
         Therefore do not associate with a gossip.

20He who curses his father or his mother,
         His lamp will go out in time of darkness.

21An inheritance gained hurriedly at the beginning
         Will not be blessed in the end.

22Do not say, “I will repay evil”;
         Wait for the LORD, and He will save you.

23Differing weights are an abomination to the LORD,
         And a false scale is not good.

24Man’s steps are ordained by the LORD,
         How then can man understand his way?

25It is a trap for a man to say rashly, “It is holy!”
         And after the vows to make inquiry.

26A wise king winnows the wicked,
         And drives the threshing wheel over them.

27The spirit of man is the lamp of the LORD,
         Searching all the innermost parts of his being.

28Loyalty and truth preserve the king,
         And he upholds his throne by righteousness.

29The glory of young men is their strength,
         And the honor of old men is their gray hair.

30Stripes that wound scour away evil,
         And strokes reach the innermost parts.

NASB ©1995

American Standard Version
The sluggard will not plow by reason of the winter; Therefore he shall beg in harvest, and have nothing.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Because of the cold the sluggard would not plough: he shall beg therefore in the summer, and it shall not be given him.

Darby Bible Translation
The sluggard will not plough by reason of the winter; he shall beg in harvest, and have nothing.

English Revised Version
The slothful will not plow by reason of the winter; therefore he shall beg in harvest, and have nothing.

Webster's Bible Translation
The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing.

World English Bible
The sluggard will not plow by reason of the winter; therefore he shall beg in harvest, and have nothing.

Young's Literal Translation
Because of winter the slothful plougheth not, He asketh in harvest, and there is nothing.Bread and Gravel
'"Bread of deceit" is sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel.'--PROVERBS xx. 17. 'Bread of deceit' is a somewhat ambiguous phrase, which may mean either of two things, and perhaps means both. It may either mean any good obtained by deceit, or good which deceives in its possession. In the former signification it would appear to have reference primarily to unjustly gotten gain, while in the latter it has a wider meaning and applies to all the worthless treasures and lying …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Sluggard in Harvest
'The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing.'--PROVERBS xx. 4. Like all the sayings of this book, this is simply a piece of plain, practical common sense, intended to inculcate the lesson that men should diligently seize the opportunity whilst it is theirs. The sluggard is one of the pet aversions of the Book of Proverbs, which, unlike most other manuals of Eastern wisdom, has a profound reverence for honest work. He is a great drone, for …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

A String of Pearls
'Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. 2. The fear of a king is as the roaring of a lion: whoso provoketh him to anger sinneth against his own soul. 3. It is an honour for a man to cease from strife: but every fool will be meddling. 4. The sluggard will not plough by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing. 5. Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out. 6. Most men will …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Sluggard's Reproof
A Sermon (No. 2766) intended for reading on Lord's Day, February 16, 1902 delivered by C.H. Spurgeon at New Park Street Chapel, Southwark on a Thursday Evening, during the Winter of 1859. "The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing." {cold: or, winter}-- Proverbs 20:4. Laziness is the crying sin of Eastern nations. I believe that the peculiar genius of the Anglo-Saxon character prevents our being, as a nation, guilty of that sin. Perhaps …
C.H. Spurgeon—Sermons on Proverbs

Friendship.
BONDS OF ATTACHMENT. Each person is connected with every other person by some bond of attachment. It may be by the steel bond of brotherhood, by the silvern chain of religious fellowship, by the golden band of conjugal affection, by the flaxen cord of parental or filial love, or by the silken tie of friendship. One or more of these bonds of attachment may encircle each person, and each bond has its varying strength, and is capable of endless lengthening and contracting. Brotherhood is a general …
J. M. Judy—Questionable Amusements and Worthy Substitutes

Regeneration the Work of God.
"The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the Lord hath even made both of them."--Prov. xx. 12. "The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the Lord hath even made both of them." This testimony of the Holy Spirit contains the whole mystery of regeneration. An unregenerate person is deaf and blind; not only as a stock or block, but worse. For neither stock nor block is corrupt or ruined, but an unregenerate person is wholly dead and a prey to the most fearful dissolution. This rigid, uncompromising, and absolute …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

Ploughing in Canaan.
In Scripture frequent mention is made of the husbandman and his work. Ploughing the land, sowing the seed, reaping the harvest, and winnowing the grain are often referred to. Our picture shows an Eastern husbandman ploughing. How different it is to ploughing in our own land! There is no coulter; and instead of the broad steel plough-share we see a pointed piece of wood. And the long handles with which our labourers guide their ploughs--where are they? The strong horses, too, harnessed one behind …
Anonymous—Mother Stories from the Old Testament

What Now Shall I Say Concerning the Very Carefulness and Watchfulness against Sin? "Who...
48. What now shall I say concerning the very carefulness and watchfulness against sin? "Who shall boast that he hath a chaste heart? or who shall boast that he is clean from sin?" [2200] Holy virginity is indeed inviolate from the mother's womb; but "no one," saith he, "is clean in Thy sight, not even the infant whose life is of one day upon the earth." [2201] There is kept also in faith inviolate a certain virginal chastity, whereby the Church is joined as a chaste virgin unto One Husband: but That …
St. Augustine—Of Holy Virginity.

The Third Exile, 356-362.
The third exile of Athanasius marks the summit of his achievement. Its commencement is the triumph, its conclusion the collapse of Arianism. It is true that after the death of Constantius the battle went on with variations of fortune for twenty years, mostly under the reign of an ardently Arian Emperor (364-378). But by 362 the utter lack of inner coherence in the Arian ranks was manifest to all; the issue of the fight might be postponed by circumstances but could not be in doubt. The break-up of …
Athanasius—Select Works and Letters or Athanasius

Benjamin Whichcote, the First of the "Latitude-Men"
The type of Christianity which I have been calling "spiritual religion," that is, religion grounded in the nature of Reason, finds, at least in England, its noblest expression in the group of men, sometimes called "Cambridge Platonists," and sometimes "Latitude-Men," or simply "Latitudinarians." These labels were all given them by their critics and opponents, and were used to give the impression that the members of this group or school were introducing and advancing a type of Christianity too broad …
Rufus M. Jones—Spiritual Reformers in the 16th and 17th Centuries

"Now the End of the Commandment," &C.
1 Tim. i. 5.--"Now the end of the commandment," &c. Fourthly, Faith purging the conscience purifies the heart (Acts xv. 9.), and hope also purifies the heart (1 John iii. 3.), which is nothing else but faith in the perfection and vigour of it. This includes, I. That the heart was unclean before faith. II. That faith cleanses it, and makes it pure. But "who can say, I have made my heart pure (Prov. xx. 9.), I am clean from my sin?" Is there any man's heart on this side of time, which lodges not many …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

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