PROVERBS CHAPTER 20.
V. 13. Love not sleep, that associated with slothfulness, lest thou come to poverty, that being the result of sloth; open thine eyes, with the proper energy, industry, and vigor, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread, for so is diligent activity rewarded.
V. 14. It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer, he insists that the goods offered him are bad, worthless, in order to beat down the price; but when he is gone his way, having gotten the better of the deal, then he boasteth, setting forth the shrewdness with which he drove his bargain, such conduct also being a form of dishonesty.
V. 15. There is gold and a multitude of rubies, or pearls, such trinkets are found in abundance in the world; but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel, they are rare indeed in the world.
V. 16. Take his garment that is surety for a stranger, for one so foolish and inconsiderate might as well hand it over at once, since he will surely lose it, and take a pledge of him for a strange woman, or, “for strange people,” for such suretyship is always ill-advised.