Proverbs 27:1-24 ▼

1 Do not boast about tomorrow for, you do not know what a day will bring forth.

2 Let a stranger praise you, and not your own mouth—a foreigner, and not your own lips.

3 The heaviness of a stone and the weight of the sand—and the anger of a fool is heavier than both of them.

4 The cruelty of rage and the flood of a nostril—and who can stand before the face of jealousy?

5 Better is an uncovered rebuke than love hidden.

6 Faithful are the wounds of one who loves, and abundant are the kisses of one hating.

7 A soul satiated would trample a honeycomb, and to a hungry soul, everything bitter is sweet.

8 Like a bird wandering from her nest, so is a man wandering from his place.

9 Oil and incense gladden the heart, and the sweetness of one’s friend is from the counsel of the soul.

10 Do not forsake your friend, and the friend of your father, and do not enter the house of your brother in the day of your calamity; better a neighbor nearby than a brother far away.

11 Be wise, my son, and gladden my heart, that I may return a word to the one reproaching me.

12 A prudent one sees evil coming; he hides himself; simple ones pass along, and they are punished.

13 Take his garment when a stranger posts security, and hold it in pledge for a foreign woman.

14 The one blessing his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, it will be counted as a curse for him.

15 A continual dripping in a day of rain, and a woman of quarrels are alike—

16 hiding her is hiding the wind or grasping oil with one’s right hand.

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

18 One keeping watch over a fig tree will eat its fruit, and the one guarding his master will be honored.

19 As in the water the face is to the face, so the heart of the man is to the man.

20 Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, and the eyes of the man are never satisfied.

21 A crucible for silver and a furnace for gold, so is a man by the mouth of one who praises him.

22 Though you may pound a fool in the mortar, in the midst of the grain with the pestle, his folly will not turn away from him.

23 Be sure to know the faces of your flock, and set your heart to your herds,

24 for riches are not forever, nor is a diadem for all generations.