19. The way of the sluggard is overgrown with thorns [it pricks, lacerates, and entangles him], but the way of the righteous is plain and raised like a highway.
20. A wise son makes a glad father, but a self-confident and foolish man despises his mother and puts her to shame.
21. Folly is pleasure to him who is without heart and sense, but a man of understanding walks uprightly [making straight his course]. [Eph. 5:15.]
22. Where there is no counsel, purposes are frustrated, but with many counselors they are accomplished.
23. A man has joy in making an apt answer, and a word spoken at the right moment–how good it is!
24. The path of the wise leads upward to life, that he may avoid [the gloom] in the depths of Sheol (Hades, the place of the dead). [Phil. 3:20; Col. 3:1, 2.]
25. The Lord tears down the house of the proud, but He makes secure the boundaries of the [consecrated] widow.
26. The thoughts of the wicked are shamefully vile and exceedingly offensive to the Lord, but the words of the pure are pleasing words to Him.
27. He who is greedy for unjust gain troubles his own household, but he who hates bribes will live. [Isa. 5:8; Jer. 17:11.]
28. The mind of the [uncompromisingly] righteous studies how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things. [I Pet. 3:15.]
29. The Lord is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the [consistently] righteous (the upright, in right standing with Him).
30. The light in the eyes [of him whose heart is joyful] rejoices the hearts of others, and good news nourishes the bones.