Proverbs 27:1–17

Do not boast about tomorrow,^a

for you do not know what the day will bring.

²May another praise you and not your own mouth,

a stranger and not your own lips.

³Heavy is a stone and weighty is sand,

but the provocation of a fool is heavier than both of them.

⁴Cruel is wrath and overwhelming is anger,

but who will stand before jealousy?

⁵Better a rebuke that is open

than a love that is hidden.

⁶The wounds of a friend mean well,

but the kisses of an enemy are profane.

⁷An appetite^b that is sated spurns honey,

but to an appetite^c that is ravenous, all bitterness is sweet.

⁸Like a bird that strays from its nest,

so is a man who strays from his place.

⁹Perfume and incense will gladden a heart,

and the pleasantness of one’s friend is personal advice.^d

¹⁰As for your friend and a friend of your father, do not forsake them,

and the house of your brother, do not enter on the day of your calamity.

Better is a close neighbor than a distant brother.

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

and I will answer him who reproaches me with a word.

¹²When the clever sees danger, he hides;

the simple go on and suffer.

¹³Take his garment, for he gives surety to a stranger,

and to an adulteress^e—so take his pledge.

¹⁴He who blesses his neighbor with a loud voice

early in the morning,

a curse will be reckoned to him.

¹⁵Dripping constantly on a day of heavy rain

and a woman^f of contention are alike.

¹⁶In restraining her, he restrains wind,^g

and his right hand will grasp oil^h.

¹⁷As iron sharpensⁱ iron,

so one man sharpens another.^j