Bible / Proverbs
Proverbs 20
Douay-Rheims Bible, Challoner revision (1749–1752), the traditional Catholic English Bible, translated from the Latin Vulgate. If you read a modern Bible, this is the same Scripture in older English; some names are spelled differently (Cesarea for Caesarea, Apocalypse for Revelation). About this translation
1 Wine is a luxurious thing, and drunkenness riotous: whosoever is delighted therewith, shall not be wise.
2 As the roaring of a lion, so also is the dread of a king: he that provoketh him, sinneth against his own soul.
3 It is an honour for a man to separate himself from quarrels: but all fools are meddling with reproaches.
4 Because of the cold the sluggard would not plough: he shall beg therefore in the summer, and it shall not be given him.
5 Counsel in the heart of a man is like deep water: but a wise man will draw it out.
6 Many men are called merciful: but who shall find a faithful man?
7 The just that walketh in his simplicity, shall leave behind him blessed children.
8 The king, that sitteth on the throne of judgment, scattereth away all evil with his look.
9 Who can say: My heart is clean, I am pure from sin?
10 Diverse weights and diverse measures, both are abominable before God.
11 By his inclinations a child is known, if his works be clean and right.
12 The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the Lord hath made them both.
13 Love not sleep, lest poverty oppress thee: open thy eyes, and be filled with bread.
14 It is naught, it is naught, saith every buyer: and when he is gone away, then he will boast.
15 There is gold and a multitude of jewels: but the lips of knowledge are a precious vessel.
16 Take away the garment of him that is surety for a stranger, and take a pledge from him for strangers.
17 The bread of lying is sweet to a man: but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel.
18 Designs are strengthened by counsels: and wars are to be managed by governments.
19 Meddle not with him that revealeth secrets, and walketh deceitfully, and openeth wide his lips.
20 He that curseth his father, and mother, his lamp shall be put out in the midst of darkness.
21 The inheritance gotten hastily in the beginning, in the end shall be without a blessing.
22 Say not: I will return evil: wait for the Lord, and he will deliver thee.
23 Diverse weights are an abomination before the Lord: a deceitful balance is not good.
24 The steps of men are guided by the Lord: but who is the man that can understand his own way?
25 It is ruin to a man to devour holy ones, and after vows to retract.
26 A wise king scattereth the wicked, and bringeth over them the wheel.
27 The spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord, which searcheth all the hidden things of the bowels.
28 Mercy and truth preserve the king, and his throne is strengthened by clemency.
29 The joy of young men is their strength: and the dignity of old men, their grey hairs.
30 The blueness of a wound shall wipe away evils: and stripes in the more inward parts of the belly.
This chapter in the Catechism and the early Church
Where the Catechism of the Catholic Church cites these verses (from its footnotes on vatican.va), and where the earliest Church Fathers quote them (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, public domain). Short quotes only; follow the links for the full text. The Catechism uses modern verse numbers, so these are listed by chapter.
- Proverbs 20:27 in modern Bibles
Read the Fathers
“For [the Scripture] saith in a certain place, "The Spirit of the Lord is a candle searching the secret parts of the belly.”
Quoted in First Letter to the Corinthians, St. Clement of Rome (c. AD 96), Chapter XXI. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
A modern English Catholic translation will be added once its publisher grants permission.