Proverbs 19-24

Proverbs 19

• To get wisdom is to love oneself.
• It is not fitting for a fool to live in luxury.
• Those with good sense are slow to anger, and it is their glory to overlook an offense.
• House and wealth are inherited from parents, but a prudent wife is from the LORD.
• Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and will be repaid in full.
• A violent tempered person will pay the penalty; if you effect a rescue, you will only have to do it again.
• It is better to be poor than a liar.

Humorous:

• The lazy person buries a hand in the dish, and will not even bring it back to the mouth. Now that's lazy!

Proverbs 20

• The lazy person does not plow in season; harvest comes, and there is nothing to be found.
• Who can say, "I have made my heart clean: I am pure from my sin"?
• A gossip reveals secrets; therefore, do not associate with a blabber. If she'll blab to you, she'll blab about you.
• The human spirit is the lamp of the LORD, searching every inmost part.
• The glory of youths is their strength, but the beauty of the aged is their gray hair.
  

Lessons easy to picture:

• Do not love sleep, or else you will come to poverty; open your eyes, and you will have plenty of bread. In other words, get up and get busy!
• "Bad, bad," says the buyer, then goes away and boasts. There doesn't seem to be condemnation here, though it is implied. It's just an observation.
  
• Bread gained by deceit is sweet, but afterward the mouth will be full of gravel.

Proverbs 21

• All deeds are right in the sight of the doer, but the LORD weighs the heart. We can all justify what we do -- even to ourselves. But God knows!
  
• To watch over mouth and tongue is to keep out of trouble.
• It is better to live in a corner of the housetop (or in a desert land) than in a house shared with a contentious (and fretful) wife. 2 separate verses in the chapter say essentially the same thing.
  
• If you close your ear to the cry of the poor, you will cry out and not be heard. What goes around comes around?
  
• All day long the wicked covet, but the righteous give and do not hold back.
• No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel, can avail against the LORD.
• The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the LORD. We can believe that it all depends on us, but in the end, God grants any victory achieved.
  

Proverbs 22

• The rich and the poor have this in common: the LORD is the maker of them all.
• Train children in the right way, and when old, they will not stray.
• The borrower is slave to the lender. If you've ever been in debt and then been freed from it, you know exactly what this means. Putting it in this way helps when deciding whether or not to borrow.
  
• Those who are generous are blessed, for they share their bread with the poor.

Not observations here, but commands:

• Hear my words
• Do not rob the poor or crush the afflicted
• Make no friends with those given to anger
• Do not become surety for debts
• Do not remove the ancient landmark that your ancestors set up

Proverbs 23
More commands

• When you sit down to eat with a ruler...put a knife to your throat if you have a big appetite. Don't make a fool of yourself by eating too much!
• Do not wear yourself out to get rich. How will you enjoy it, anyway?
  
• Do not eat the bread or delicacies of the stingy - it will be like hair in the throat and will make you vomit later. Don't receive gifts from people who really don't want to part with them.
  
• Do not speak in the hearing of a fool.
• Do not withhold discipline from your children.
• Do not let your heart envy sinners.
• Do not be among winebibbers.
• Listen to your father who begot you.
• Buy truth, wisdom, instruction, and understanding and do not sell them.
  
• Give me your heart.
• Do not look at wine when it looks good in the cup -- look at the results of drinking. Which are described in graphic detail here.
  
• Do not envy the wicked (24:1)
  

Proverbs 24
Observations:

• By wisdom a house is built
• Wise warriors are mightier than strong ones
• The devising of folly is a sin
• If you faint, or hold back, or deny your knowledge of trouble -- the one who weighs the heart and watches over your soul will know it, and will repay according to your deeds

Commands:

• Know that wisdom is like honey for your soul.
• Do no violence to the place where they righteous live -- they will rise again.
• Do not rejoice when your enemies fall. The LORD will see it and turn away his anger from them. Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the LORD. When we take it into our own hands, we don't allow God to deliver righteous judgment.
  
• Do not envy the wicked.
• Fear the LORD and the king.

Further Sayings:

• Partiality in judging is not good.
• One who gives an honest answer gives a kiss on the lips.
• Prepare your work outside -- in the field -- and then build your house. Does this mean I need to weed before I sweep?
  
• Do not be a witness against your neighbor without cause - do not pay others back for what they have done to you.
• Observation: I passed by the fields and vineyard of one who was lazy and stupid, and they were covered in thorns and nettles, and here is what I learned: "A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want, like an armed warrior." Just a little sleep? This means we keep on keeping on -- because even a little laziness reaps bad results.