Proverbs 27

₁Do not boast about tomorrow,

for you do not know what a day may bring.

₂Let another praise you, and not your own mouth;

a stranger, and not your own lips.

₃A stone is heavy, and sand is weighty,

but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both.

₄Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming,

but who can stand before jealousy?

₅Better is open rebuke

than hidden love.

₆Faithful are the wounds of a friend;

profuse are the kisses of an enemy.

₇One who is full loathes honey,

but to one who is hungry everything bitter is sweet.

₈Like a bird that strays from its nest

is a man who strays from his home.

₉Oil and perfume make the heart glad,

and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.

₁₀Do not forsake your friend and your father’s friend,

and do not go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity.

Better is a neighbor who is near

than a brother who is far away.

₁₁Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad,

that I may answer him who reproaches me.

₁₂The prudent sees danger and hides himself,

but the simple go on and suffer for it.

₁₃Take a man’s garment when he has put up security for a stranger,

and hold it in pledge when he puts up security for an adulteress.

₁₄Whoever blesses his neighbor with a loud voice,

rising early in the morning,

will be counted as cursing.

₁₅A continual dripping on a rainy day

and a quarrelsome wife are alike;

₁₆to restrain her is to restrain the wind

or to grasp oil in one’s right hand.

₁₇Iron sharpens iron,

and one man sharpens another.

₁₈Whoever tends a fig tree will eat its fruit,

and he who guards his master will be honored.

₁₉As in water face reflects face,

so the heart of man reflects the man.

₂₀Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied,

and never satisfied are the eyes of man.

₂₁The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,

and a man is tested by his praise.

₂₂Crush a fool in a mortar with a pestle

along with crushed grain,

yet his folly will not depart from him.

₂₃Know well the condition of your flocks,

and give attention to your herds,

₂₄for riches do not last forever;

and does a crown endure to all generations?

₂₅When the grass is gone and the new growth appears

and the vegetation of the mountains is gathered,

₂₆the lambs will provide your clothing,

and the goats the price of a field.

₂₇There will be enough goats’ milk for your food,

for the food of your household

and maintenance for your girls.