Proverbs 25:1–29:27

FURTHER WISE SAYINGS OF SOLOMON

The Right Word at the Right Time

¹25There are also these proverbs of Solomon,

collected by scribes of Hezekiah, king of Judah.

²God delights in concealing things;

scientists delight in discovering things.

³Like the horizons for breadth and the ocean for depth,

the understanding of a good leader is broad and deep.

^4–5Remove impurities from the silver

and the silversmith can craft a fine chalice;

Remove the wicked from leadership

and authority will be credible and God-honoring.

^6–7Don’t work yourself into the spotlight;

don’t push your way into the place of prominence.

It’s better to be promoted to a place of honor

than face humiliation by being demoted.

⁸Don’t jump to conclusions—there may be

a perfectly good explanation for what you just saw.

^9–10In the heat of an argument,

don’t betray confidences;

Word is sure to get around,

and no one will trust you.

^11–12The right word at the right time

is like a custom-made piece of jewelry,

And a wise friend’s timely reprimand

is like a gold ring slipped on your finger.

¹³Reliable friends who do what they say

are like cool drinks in sweltering heat—refreshing!

¹⁴Like billowing clouds that bring no rain

is the person who talks big but never produces.

¹⁵Patient persistence pierces through indifference;

gentle speech breaks down rigid defenses.

A Person Without Self-Control

^16–17When you’re given a box of candy, don’t gulp it all down;

eat too much chocolate and you’ll make yourself sick;

And when you find a friend, don’t outwear your welcome;

show up at all hours and he’ll soon get fed up.

¹⁸Anyone who tells lies against the neighbors

in court or on the street is a loose cannon.

¹⁹Trusting a double-crosser when you’re in trouble

is like biting down on an abscessed tooth.

²⁰Singing light songs to the heavyhearted

is like pouring salt in their wounds.

^21–22If you see your enemy hungry, go buy him lunch;

if he’s thirsty, bring him a drink.

Your generosity will surprise him with goodness,

and God will look after you.

²³A north wind brings stormy weather,

and a gossipy tongue stormy looks.

²⁴Better to live alone in a tumbledown shack

than share a mansion with a nagging spouse.

²⁵Like a cool drink of water when you’re worn out and weary

is a letter from a long-lost friend.

²⁶A good person who gives in to a bad person

is a muddied spring, a polluted well.

²⁷It’s not smart to stuff yourself with sweets,

nor is glory piled on glory good for you.

²⁸A person without self-control

is like a house with its doors and windows knocked out.

Fools Recycle Silliness

¹26We no more give honors to fools

than pray for snow in summer or rain during harvest.

²You have as little to fear from an undeserved curse

as from the dart of a wren or the swoop of a swallow.

³A whip for the racehorse, a tiller for the sailboat—

and a stick for the back of fools!

⁴Don’t respond to the stupidity of a fool;

you’ll only look foolish yourself.

⁵Answer a fool in simple terms

so he doesn’t get a swelled head.

⁶You’re only asking for trouble

when you send a message by a fool.

⁷A proverb quoted by fools

is limp as a wet noodle.

⁸Putting a fool in a place of honor

is like setting a mud brick on a marble column.

⁹To ask a moron to quote a proverb

is like putting a scalpel in the hands of a drunk.

¹⁰Hire a fool or a drunk

and you shoot yourself in the foot.

¹¹As a dog eats its own vomit,

so fools recycle silliness.

¹²See that man who thinks he’s so smart?

You can expect far more from a fool than from him.

¹³Loafers say, “It’s dangerous out there!

Tigers are prowling the streets!”

and then pull the covers back over their heads.

¹⁴Just as a door turns on its hinges,

so a lazybones turns back over in bed.

¹⁵A shiftless sluggard puts his fork in the pie,

but is too lazy to lift it to his mouth.

Like Glaze on Cracked Pottery

¹⁶Dreamers fantasize their self-importance;

they think they are smarter

than a whole college faculty.

¹⁷You grab a mad dog by the ears

when you butt into a quarrel that’s none of your business.

^18–19People who shrug off deliberate deceptions,

saying, “I didn’t mean it, I was only joking,”

Are worse than careless campers

who walk away from smoldering campfires.

²⁰When you run out of wood, the fire goes out;

when the gossip ends, the quarrel dies down.

²¹A quarrelsome person in a dispute

is like kerosene thrown on a fire.

²²Listening to gossip is like eating cheap candy;

do you want junk like that in your belly?

²³Smooth talk from an evil heart

is like glaze on cracked pottery.

^24–26Your enemy shakes hands and greets you like an old friend,

all the while conniving against you.

When he speaks warmly to you, don’t believe him for a minute;

he’s just waiting for the chance to rip you off.

No matter how cunningly he conceals his malice,

eventually his evil will be exposed in public.

²⁷Malice backfires;

spite boomerangs.

²⁸Liars hate their victims;

flatterers sabotage trust.

You Don’t Know Tomorrow

¹27Don’t brashly announce what you’re going to do tomorrow;

you don’t know the first thing about tomorrow.

²Don’t call attention to yourself;

let others do that for you.

³Carrying a log across your shoulders

while you’re hefting a boulder with your arms

Is nothing compared to the burden

of putting up with a fool.

⁴We’re blasted by anger and swamped by rage,

but who can survive jealousy?

⁵A spoken reprimand is better

than approval that’s never expressed.

⁶The wounds from a lover are worth it;

kisses from an enemy do you in.

⁷When you’ve stuffed yourself, you refuse dessert;

when you’re starved, you could eat a horse.

⁸People who won’t settle down, wandering hither and yon,

are like restless birds, flitting to and fro.

⁹Just as lotions and fragrance give sensual delight,

a sweet friendship refreshes the soul.

¹⁰Don’t leave your friends or your parents’ friends

and run home to your family when things get rough;

Better a nearby friend

than a distant family.

¹¹Become wise, dear child, and make me happy;

then nothing the world throws my way will upset me.

¹²A prudent person sees trouble coming and ducks;

a simpleton walks in blindly and is clobbered.

¹³Hold tight to collateral on any loan to a stranger;

be wary of accepting what a transient has pawned.

¹⁴If you wake your friend in the early morning

by shouting “Rise and shine!”

It will sound to him

more like a curse than a blessing.

^15–16A nagging spouse is like

the drip, drip, drip of a leaky faucet;

You can’t turn it off,

and you can’t get away from it.

Your Face Mirrors Your Heart

¹⁷You use steel to sharpen steel,

and one friend sharpens another.

¹⁸If you care for your orchard, you’ll enjoy its fruit;

if you honor your boss, you’ll be honored.

¹⁹Just as water mirrors your face,

so your face mirrors your heart.

²⁰Hell has a voracious appetite,

and lust just never quits.

²¹The purity of silver and gold is tested

by putting them in the fire;

The purity of human hearts is tested

by giving them a little fame.

²²Pound on a fool all you like—

you can’t pound out foolishness.

^23–27Know your sheep by name;

carefully attend to your flocks;

(Don’t take them for granted;

possessions don’t last forever, you know.)

And then, when the crops are in

and the harvest is stored in the barns,

You can knit sweaters from lambs’ wool,

and sell your goats for a profit;

There will be plenty of milk and meat

to last your family through the winter.

If You Desert God’s Law

¹28The wicked are edgy with guilt, ready to run off

even when no one’s after them;

Honest people are relaxed and confident,

bold as lions.

²When the country is in chaos,

everybody has a plan to fix it—

But it takes a leader of real understanding

to straighten things out.

³The wicked who oppress the poor

are like a hailstorm that beats down the harvest.

⁴If you desert God’s law, you’re free to embrace depravity;

if you love God’s law, you fight for it tooth and nail.

⁵Justice makes no sense to the evil minded;

those who seek God know it inside and out.

⁶It’s better to be poor and direct

than rich and crooked.

⁷Practice God’s law—get a reputation for wisdom;

hang out with a loose crowd—embarrass your family.

⁸Get as rich as you want

through cheating and extortion,

But eventually some friend of the poor

is going to give it all back to them.

⁹God has no use for the prayers

of the people who won’t listen to him.

¹⁰Lead good people down a wrong path

and you’ll come to a bad end;

do good and you’ll be rewarded for it.

¹¹The rich think they know it all,

but the poor can see right through them.

¹²When good people are promoted, everything is great,

but when the bad are in charge, watch out!

¹³You can’t whitewash your sins and get by with it;

you find mercy by admitting and leaving them.

¹⁴A tenderhearted person lives a blessed life;

a hardhearted person lives a hard life.

¹⁵Lions roar and bears charge—

and the wicked lord it over the poor.

¹⁶Among leaders who lack insight, abuse abounds,

but for one who hates corruption, the future is bright.

¹⁷A murderer haunted by guilt

is doomed—there’s no helping him.

¹⁸Walk straight—live well and be saved;

a devious life is a doomed life.

Doing Great Harm in Seemingly Harmless Ways

¹⁹Work your garden—you’ll end up with plenty of food;

play and party—you’ll end up with an empty plate.

²⁰Committed and persistent work pays off;

get-rich-quick schemes are ripoffs.

²¹Playing favorites is always a bad thing;

you can do great harm in seemingly harmless ways.

²²A miser in a hurry to get rich

doesn’t know that he’ll end up broke.

²³In the end, serious reprimand is appreciated

far more than bootlicking flattery.

²⁴Anyone who robs father and mother

and says, “So, what’s wrong with that?”

is worse than a pirate.

²⁵A grasping person stirs up trouble,

but trust in God brings a sense of well-being.

²⁶If you think you know it all, you’re a fool for sure;

real survivors learn wisdom from others.

²⁷Be generous to the poor—you’ll never go hungry;

shut your eyes to their needs, and run a gauntlet of curses.

²⁸When corruption takes over, good people go underground,

but when the crooks are thrown out, it’s safe to come out.

If People Can’t See What God Is Doing

¹29For people who hate discipline

and only get more stubborn,

There’ll come a…