Proverbs 27

¹Don’t boast about tomorrow;

for you don’t know what a day may bring.

²Let another man praise you,

and not your own mouth;

a stranger, and not your own lips.

³A stone is heavy,

and sand is a burden;

but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both.

⁴Wrath is cruel,

and anger is overwhelming;

but who is able to stand before jealousy?

⁵Better is open rebuke

than hidden love.

⁶The wounds of a friend are faithful,

although the kisses of an enemy are profuse.

⁷A full soul loathes a honeycomb;

but to a hungry soul, every bitter thing is sweet.

⁸As a bird that wanders from her nest,

so is a man who wanders from his home.

⁹Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart;

so does earnest counsel from a man’s friend.

¹⁰Don’t forsake your friend and your father’s friend.

Don’t go to your brother’s house in the day of your disaster.

A neighbor who is near is better than a distant brother.

¹¹Be wise, my son,

and bring joy to my heart,

then I can answer my tormentor.

¹²A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge;

but the simple pass on, and suffer for it.

¹³Take his garment when he puts up collateral for a stranger.

Hold it for a wayward woman!

¹⁴He who blesses his neighbor with a loud voice early in the morning,

it will be taken as a curse by him.

¹⁵A continual dropping on a rainy day

and a contentious wife are alike:

¹⁶restraining her is like restraining the wind,

or like grasping oil in his right hand.

¹⁷Iron sharpens iron;

so a man sharpens his friend’s countenance.

¹⁸Whoever tends the fig tree shall eat its fruit.

He who looks after his master shall be honored.

¹⁹Like water reflects a face,

so a man’s heart reflects the man.

²⁰Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied;

and a man’s eyes are never satisfied.

²¹The crucible is for silver,

and the furnace for gold;

but man is refined by his praise.

²²Though you grind a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with grain,

yet his foolishness will not be removed from him.

²³Know well the state of your flocks,

and pay attention to your herds,

²⁴for riches are not forever,

nor does the crown endure to all generations.

²⁵The hay is removed, and the new growth appears,

the grasses of the hills are gathered in.

²⁶The lambs are for your clothing,

and the goats are the price of a field.

²⁷There will be plenty of goats’ milk for your food,

for your family’s food,

and for the nourishment of your servant girls.