Proverbs 27

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

2 Let someone else praise you and not your own mouth; a stranger and not your own lips.⋮

3 Consider the heaviness of a stone and the weight of sand— the provocation of a fool is heavier than both.⋮

4 There is the cruelty of rage and the flood of anger, but who is able to stand before jealousy?⋮

5 Better is an open rebuke than hidden love.⋮

6 Faithful are the wounds caused by a friend, but an enemy may kiss you profusely.⋮

7 A person who has eaten to the full rejects even a honeycomb, but to the hungry person, every bitter thing is sweet.⋮

8 Like a bird that wanders from its nest is a man who strays from where he lives.⋮

9 Perfume and incense make the heart rejoice, but the sweetness of a friend comes from his sincere counsel.⋮

10 Do not forsake your friend and your friend's father, and do not go to your brother's house on the day of your calamity. Better is a neighbor who is nearby than a brother who is far away.⋮

11 Be wise, my son, and make my heart rejoice; then I will give back an answer to the one who mocks me.⋮

12 A prudent man sees trouble and hides himself, but the naive people go on and suffer because of it.⋮

13 Take a garment of one who has put up security for a stranger, and hold it in pledge when he puts up security for an immoral woman.⋮

14 Whoever gives his neighbor a blessing with a loud voice early in the morning, that blessing will be considered to be a curse!⋮

15 A quarreling wife is like the constant dripping on a rainy day;⋮

16 restraining her is like restraining the wind, or trying to catch oil in your right hand.⋮

17 Iron sharpens iron; in the same way, a man sharpens his friend.⋮

18 The one who tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and the one who protects his master will be honored.⋮

19 Just as water reflects a person's face, so a person's heart reflects the person.⋮

20 Just as Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, so a man's eyes are never satisfied.⋮

21 A crucible is for silver and a furnace is for gold; and a person is tested when he is praised.⋮

22 Even if you crush a fool with the pestle—along with the grain— yet his foolishness will not leave him.⋮

23 Be sure you know the condition of your flocks and be concerned about your herds,⋮

24 for wealth is not forever. Does a crown endure for all generations?⋮

25 You should know when the hay is gone and the new growth appears, and the time when the grass from the hills is gathered in.⋮

26 Those lambs will provide your clothing and the goats will provide the price of the field.⋮

27 There will be goats' milk for your food—the food for your household— and nourishment for your servant girls.⋮