Proverbs 27
¹ Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.
² Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips.
³ A stone is heavy, and the sand weighty; but a fool’s vexation is heavier than them both.
⁴ Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before jealousy?
⁵ Better is open rebuke than love that is hidden.
⁶ Faithful are the wounds of a friend: but the kisses of an enemy are profuse.
⁷ The full soul loatheth an honeycomb: but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.
⁸ As a bird that wandereth from her nest, so is a man that wandereth from his place.
⁹ Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man’s friend that cometh of hearty counsel.
¹⁰ Thine own friend, and thy father’s friend, forsake not; and go not to thy brother’s house in the day of thy calamity: better is a neighbour that is near than a brother far off.
¹¹ My son, be wise, and make my heart glad, that I may answer him that reproacheth me.
¹² A prudent man seeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and suffer for it.
¹³ Take his garment that is surety for a stranger; and hold him in pledge that is surety for a strange woman.
¹⁴ He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, it shall be counted a curse to him.
¹⁵ A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike:
¹⁶ He that would restrain her restraineth the wind, and his right hand encountereth oil.
¹⁷ Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.
¹⁸ Whoso keepeth the fig tree shall eat the fruit thereof; and he that waiteth on his master shall be honoured.
¹⁹ As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man.
²⁰ Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied; and the eyes of man are never satisfied.
²¹ The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold, and a man is tried by his praise.
²² Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar with a pestle among bruised corn, yet will not his foolishness depart from him.
²³ Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds:
²⁴ For riches are not for ever; and doth the crown endure unto all generations?
²⁵ The hay is carried, and the tender grass sheweth itself, and the herbs of the mountains are gathered in.
²⁶ The lambs are for thy clothing, and the goats are the price of the field:
²⁷ And there will be goats’ milk enough for thy food, for the food of thy household; and maintenance for thy maidens.