Proverbs 27:1–17

¹Don’t brag about tomorrow,

since you don’t know what the day will bring.

²Let someone else praise you, not your own mouth—

a stranger, not your own lips.

³A stone is heavy and sand is weighty,

but the resentment caused by a fool is even heavier.

⁴Anger is cruel, and wrath is like a flood,

but jealousy is even more dangerous.

⁵An open rebuke

is better than hidden love!

⁶Wounds from a sincere friend

are better than many kisses from an enemy.

⁷A person who is full refuses honey,

but even bitter food tastes sweet to the hungry.

⁸A person who strays from home

is like a bird that strays from its nest.

⁹The heartfelt counsel of a friend

is as sweet as perfume and incense.

¹⁰Never abandon a friend—

either yours or your father’s.

When disaster strikes, you won’t have to ask your brother for assistance.

It’s better to go to a neighbor than to a brother who lives far away.

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

Then I will be able to answer my critics.

¹²A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions.

The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.

¹³Get security from someone who guarantees a stranger’s debt.

Get a deposit if he does it for foreigners.

¹⁴A loud and cheerful greeting early in the morning

will be taken as a curse!

¹⁵A quarrelsome wife is as annoying

as constant dripping on a rainy day.

¹⁶Stopping her complaints is like trying to stop the wind

or trying to hold something with greased hands.

¹⁷As iron sharpens iron,

so a friend sharpens a friend.