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A person gains honor by avoiding strife,
    while every fool starts a quarrel.[a]
In seedtime sluggards do not plow;
    when they look for the harvest, it is not there.
The intention of the human heart is deep water,
    but the intelligent draw it forth.[b](A)

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Footnotes

  1. 20:3 The honor that one might seek to gain from fighting comes of itself to the person who refrains from fighting.
  2. 20:5 The heart is where human plans are made and stored; they remain “deep water” until words reveal them to others. The wise know how to draw up those waters, i.e., express them. Cf. 18:4.