Proverbs 27:1–17

¹Boast not thyself of to-morrow, For thou knowest not what a day bringeth forth.

²Let another praise thee, and not thine own mouth, A stranger, and not thine own lips.

³A stone is heavy, and the sand is heavy, And the anger of a fool Is heavier than they both. ⁴Fury is fierce, and anger is overflowing, And who standeth before jealousy?

⁵Better is open reproof than hidden love. ⁶Faithful are the wounds of a lover, And abundant the kisses of an enemy.

⁷A satiated soul treadeth down a honeycomb, And to a hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.

⁸As a bird wandering from her nest, So is a man wandering from his place.

⁹Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart, And the sweetness of one’s friend—from counsel of the soul. ¹⁰Thine own friend, and the friend of thy father, forsake not, And the house of thy brother enter not In a day of thy calamity, Better is a near neighbour than a brother afar off.

¹¹Be wise, my son, and rejoice my heart. And I return my reproacher a word.

¹²The prudent hath seen the evil, he is hidden, The simple have passed on, they are punished.

¹³Take his garment, when a stranger hath been surety, And for a strange woman pledge it.

¹⁴Whoso is saluting his friend with a loud voice, In the morning rising early, A light thing it is reckoned to him.

¹⁵A continual dropping in a day of rain, And a woman of contentions are alike, ¹⁶Whoso is hiding her hath hidden the wind, And the ointment of his right hand calleth out.

¹⁷Iron by iron is sharpened, And a man sharpens the face of his friend.