Proverbs 27:1–17

Don’t brag about tomorrow;

you don’t know what may happen then.

²Don’t praise yourself. Let someone else do it.

Let the praise come from a stranger and not from your own mouth.

³Stone is heavy, and sand is weighty,

but a complaining fool is worse than either.

⁴Anger is cruel and destroys like a flood,

but no one can put up with jealousy!

⁵It is better to correct someone openly

than to have love and not show it.

⁶The slap of a friend can be trusted to help you,

but the kisses of an enemy are nothing but lies.

⁷When you are full, not even honey tastes good,

but when you are hungry, even something bitter tastes sweet.

⁸A person who leaves his home

is like a bird that leaves its nest.

⁹The sweet smell of perfume and oils is pleasant,

and so is good advice from a friend.

¹⁰Don’t forget your friend or your parent’s friend.

Don’t always go to your family for help when trouble comes.

A neighbor close by is better than a family far away.

¹¹Be wise, my child, and make me happy.

Then I can respond to any insult.

¹²The wise see danger ahead and avoid it,

but fools keep going and get into trouble.

¹³Take the coat of someone who promises to pay a stranger’s loan,

and keep it until he pays what the stranger owes.

¹⁴If you loudly greet your neighbor early in the morning,

he will think of it as a curse.

¹⁵A quarreling wife is as bothersome

as a continual dripping on a rainy day.

¹⁶Stopping her is like stopping the wind

or trying to grab oil in your hand.

¹⁷As iron sharpens iron,

so people can improve each other.