27
1 Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day will bring forth.
2 Let another praise you, and not your own mouth;
a stranger, and not your own lips.
3 Stone is heavy and sand a burden, but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both.
4 Wrath is cruel and anger a flood, but who can stand before jealousy?
5 Better an open rebuke than hidden love.
6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but abundant are the kisses of an enemy.
7 A satisfied soul tramples on honey, but to a hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.
8 Like a bird wandering from its nest is a man wandering from his place.
9 Oil and incense gladden the heart, and the sweetness of a friend comes from heartfelt counsel.
10 Do not forsake your friend or your father’s friend, and do not go to your brother’s house on the day of your calamity.
Better a neighbor nearby than a brother far away.
11 Be wise, my son, and gladden my heart, so that I may answer the one who reproaches me.
12 A prudent person sees danger and hides;
the simple pass on and suffer the penalty.
13 Take the garment of one who puts up security for a stranger;
take a pledge from him on behalf of a foreign woman.
14 Whoever blesses his neighbor with a loud voice early in the morning will have it counted as a curse.
15 A constant dripping on a rainy day and a quarrelsome wife are alike.
16 Whoever restrains her restrains the wind and grasps oil in his right hand.
17 Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.
18 Whoever tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and whoever attends his master will be honored.
19 As water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man.
20 Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, and the eyes of man are never satisfied.
21 The crucible is for silver and the furnace for gold, and a man is tested by the praise he receives.
22 Even if you pound a fool in a mortar, among crushed grain with a pestle, his folly will not leave him.
23 Know well the condition of your flocks;
give your herds your attention,
24 for wealth does not last forever.
Does a crown endure from generation to generation?
25 When the hay is removed and new grass appears, and the grasses of the hills are gathered,
26 the lambs will provide your clothing, and the male goats the price of a field.
27 There will be enough goats’ milk for your food, for the food of your household, and for the support of your servant girls.