Proverbs 27

Chapter 27

Warnings and Instructions

^1aDo not boast about tomorrow,

For you ^bdo not know what a day may bring forth.

²Let ^aanother praise you, and not your own mouth;

A stranger, and not your own lips.

³A stone is heavy and the sand weighty,

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

⁴Wrath is fierce and anger is a flood,

But ^awho can stand before jealousy?

⁵Better is ^aopen rebuke

Than love that is concealed.

⁶Faithful are the ^awounds of a friend,

But ¹deceitful are the ^bkisses of an enemy.

⁷A sated ¹man ²loathes honey,

But to a famished man any bitter thing is sweet.

⁸Like a ^abird that wanders from her nest,

So is a man who ^bwanders from his ¹home.

^9aOil and perfume make the heart glad,

So a ¹man’s counsel is sweet to his friend.

¹⁰Do not forsake your own ^afriend or ^byour 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 far away.

^11aBe wise, my son, and make my heart glad,

That I may ^breply to him who reproaches me.

¹²A prudent man sees evil and hides himself,

The ¹naive proceed and pay the penalty.

^13aTake his garment when he becomes surety for a stranger;

And for an ¹adulterous woman hold him in pledge.

^14aHe who blesses his friend with a loud voice early in the morning,

It will be reckoned a curse to him.

¹⁵A ^aconstant dripping on a day of steady rain

And a contentious woman are alike;

¹⁶He who would ¹restrain her restrains the wind,

And ²grasps oil with his right hand.

¹⁷Iron sharpens iron,

So one man sharpens another.

¹⁸He who tends the ^afig tree will eat its fruit,

And he who ^bcares for his master will be honored.

¹⁹As in water face reflects face,

So the heart of man reflects man.

^201aSheol and ²Abaddon are ^bnever satisfied,

Nor are the ^ceyes of man ever satisfied.

²¹The ^acrucible is for silver and the furnace for gold,

And each ^bis tested by the praise accorded him.

²²Though you ^apound a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain,

Yet his foolishness will not depart from him.

^23aKnow well the ¹condition of your flocks,

And pay attention to your herds;

²⁴For riches are not forever,

Nor does a ^acrown endure to all generations.

²⁵When the grass disappears, the new growth is seen,

And the herbs of the mountains are ^agathered in,

²⁶The lambs will be for your clothing,

And the goats will bring the price of a field,

²⁷And there will be goats’ milk enough for your food,

For the food of your household,

And sustenance for your maidens.