[Image: Introduction to Proverbs]
PROVERBS 27
[1] Do not boast about tomorrow,
for you do not know what a day may bring.
[2] Let another praise you, and not your own mouth;
a stranger, and not your own lips.
[3] A stone is heavy, and sand is weighty,
but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both.
[4] Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming,
but who can stand before jealousy?
[5] Better is open rebuke
than hidden love.
[6] Faithful are the wounds of a friend;
profuse are the kisses of an enemy.
[7] One who is full loathes honey,
but to one who is hungry everything bitter is sweet.
[8] Like a bird that strays from its nest
is a man who strays from his home.
[9] Oil and perfume make the heart glad,
and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.
[10] Do not forsake your friend and your father’s friend,
and do not go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity.
Better is a neighbor who is near
than a brother who is far away.
[11] Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad,
that I may answer him who reproaches me.
[12] The prudent sees danger and hides himself,
but the simple go on and suffer for it.
[13] Take a man’s garment when he has put up security for a stranger,
and hold it in pledge when he puts up security for an adulteress.
[14] Whoever blesses his neighbor with a loud voice,
rising early in the morning,
will be counted as cursing.
[15] A continual dripping on a rainy day
and a quarrelsome wife are alike;
[16] to restrain her is to restrain the wind
or to grasp oil in one’s right hand.
[17] Iron sharpens iron,
and one man sharpens another.
[18] Whoever tends a fig tree will eat its fruit,
and he who guards his master will be honored.
[19] As in water face reflects face,
so the heart of man reflects the man.
[20] Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied,
and never satisfied are the eyes of man.
[21] The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,
and a man is tested by his praise.
[22] Crush a fool in a mortar with a pestle
along with crushed grain,
yet his folly will not depart from him.
[23] Know well the condition of your flocks,
and give attention to your herds,
[24] for riches do not last forever;
and does a crown endure to all generations?
[25] When the grass is gone and the new growth appears
and the vegetation of the mountains is gathered,
[26] the lambs will provide your clothing,
and the goats the price of a field.
[27] There will be enough goats’ milk for your food,
for the food of your household
and maintenance for your girls. (ESV)
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