Proverbs 27

27Don’t brag about tomorrow.

You don’t know what a day will bring.

²Let another person praise you, and not your own mouth.

Let someone else praise you, and not your own lips.

³Stones are heavy. Sand weighs a lot.

But letting a foolish person make you angry is a heavier load than both of them.

⁴Anger is mean. Great anger overpowers you.

But who can face jealousy?

⁵Being warned openly is better

than being loved in secret.

⁶Wounds from a friend can be trusted.

But an enemy kisses you many times.

⁷When you are full, you even hate honey.

When you are hungry, even what is bitter tastes sweet.

⁸A man who wanders away from his home

is like a bird that wanders from its nest.

⁹Perfume and incense bring joy to your heart.

And a friend is sweeter when he gives you honest advice.

¹⁰Don’t desert your friend or your father’s friend.

And don’t go to your family when trouble strikes you.

A neighbor nearby is better than a family member far away.

¹¹My child, be wise and bring joy to my heart.

Then I can answer anyone who makes fun of me.

¹²Wise people see danger and go to a safe place.

But childish people keep on going and suffer for it.

¹³Take the coat of one who puts up money for what a stranger owes.

Hold it until you get paid back if he does it for a woman who commits adultery.

¹⁴Suppose you loudly bless your neighbor early in the morning.

Then you might as well be calling down a curse on him.

¹⁵A nagging wife is like

dripping that never stops on a rainy day.

¹⁶Stopping her is like trying to stop the wind.

It’s like trying to grab oil with your hand.

¹⁷As iron sharpens iron,

so one person sharpens another.

¹⁸A person who takes good care of a fig tree will eat its fruit.

And a person who looks after his master will be honored.

¹⁹When you look into water, you see a likeness of your face.

When you look into your heart, you see what you are really like.

²⁰Death and the Grave are never satisfied.

A man’s eyes are never satisfied either.

²¹Fire tests silver. Heat tests gold.

But a man is tested by the praise he receives.

²²You can grind a foolish person in a mill.

You can grind him as you would grind grain with a tool.

But you can’t remove his foolishness from him.

²³Be sure you know how your flocks are doing.

Pay careful attention to your herds.

²⁴Riches don’t last forever.

And a crown is not secure for all time to come.

²⁵The hay is removed, and new growth appears.

The grass from the hills is gathered in.

²⁶Then your lambs will provide you with clothes.

And the money from selling your goats will buy you a field.

²⁷You will have plenty of goats’ milk.

It will feed you and your family.

It will also feed your female servants.