27 Do not boast about tomorrow,
(A)for you do not know what a day may bring.
2 Let (B)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 (C)a fool's provocation is heavier than both.
4 Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming,
but who can stand before (D)jealousy?
5 (E)Better is open rebuke
than hidden love.
6 Faithful are (F)the wounds of a friend;
profuse are the kisses of an enemy.
7 One who is full loathes (G)honey,
but to one who is hungry everything bitter is sweet.
8 Like (H)a bird that strays from its nest
is a man who strays from his home.
9 (I)Oil and perfume make the heart glad,
and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.[a]
10 Do not forsake your friend and (J)your father's friend,
and do not go to your brother's house in the day of your calamity.
(K)Better is a neighbour who is near
than a brother who is far away.
11 (L)Be wise, (M)my son, and (N)make my heart glad,
that I may (O)answer him who reproaches me.
12 (P)The prudent sees danger and hides himself,
but (Q)the simple go on and suffer for it.
13 (R)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.[b]
14 Whoever blesses his neighbour with a loud voice,
rising early in the morning,
will be counted as cursing.
15 (S)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[c] oil in one's right hand.
17 Iron sharpens iron,
and one man sharpens another.[d]
18 (T)Whoever tends a fig tree will eat its fruit,
and he who (U)guards his master will be honoured.
19 As in water face reflects face,
so the heart of man reflects the man.
20 (V)Sheol and Abaddon are (W)never satisfied,
and (X)never satisfied are the eyes of man.
21 (Y)The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,
and a man is tested by his praise.
22 (Z)Crush a fool in a mortar with a pestle
along with crushed grain,
yet his folly will not depart from him.
23 (AA)Know well the condition of your flocks,
and (AB)give attention to your herds,
24 for (AC)riches do not last for ever;
and does a crown endure to all generations?
25 (AD)When the grass is gone and the new growth appears
and the vegetation of the mountains is gathered,
26 (AE)the lambs will provide your clothing,
and the goats the price of a field.
27 (AF)There will be enough goats' milk for your food,
for the food of your household
and maintenance for your girls.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 27:9 Or and so does the sweetness of a friend that comes from his earnest counsel
- Proverbs 27:13 Hebrew a foreign woman; a slight emendation yields (compare Vulgate; see also 20:16) foreigners
- Proverbs 27:16 Hebrew to meet with
- Proverbs 27:17 Hebrew sharpens the face of another
Cross references
- Proverbs 27:1 : Luke 12:19, 20; James 4:13, 14
- Proverbs 27:2 : 2 Cor. 10:12, 18; [ch. 25:27; 2 Cor. 12:11]
- Proverbs 27:3 : [ch. 12:16; 17:12]
- Proverbs 27:4 : ch. 6:34
- Proverbs 27:5 : [ch. 28:23]
- Proverbs 27:6 : Ps. 141:5
- Proverbs 27:7 : [ch. 25:16]
- Proverbs 27:8 : ch. 26:2
- Proverbs 27:9 : [Ps. 23:5]
- Proverbs 27:10 : See 1 Kgs. 12:6-8; 2 Chr. 10:6-8
- Proverbs 27:10 : See ch. 17:17
- Proverbs 27:11 : ch. 6:6
- Proverbs 27:11 : ch. 10:1; 23:15, 24
- Proverbs 27:11 : See ch. 29:3
- Proverbs 27:11 : Ps. 119:42; [Ps. 127:5]
- Proverbs 27:12 : ch. 22:3
- Proverbs 27:12 : See ch. 1:4
- Proverbs 27:13 : See ch. 20:16
- Proverbs 27:15 : ch. 19:13
- Proverbs 27:18 : Song 8:12; 1 Cor. 3:8; 9:7; 2 Tim. 2:6
- Proverbs 27:18 : [Matt. 25:21]
- Proverbs 27:20 : ch. 15:11; See Job 26:6
- Proverbs 27:20 : ch. 30:15, 16; Hab. 2:5; [ch. 1:12]
- Proverbs 27:20 : Eccles. 1:8; 4:8
- Proverbs 27:21 : ch. 17:3
- Proverbs 27:22 : [ch. 23:35; Isa. 1:5; Jer. 5:3]
- Proverbs 27:23 : [John 10:3, 14; Acts 20:28; 1 Pet. 5:2, 4]
- Proverbs 27:23 : [John 10:3, 14; Acts 20:28; 1 Pet. 5:2, 4]
- Proverbs 27:24 : ch. 23:5
- Proverbs 27:25 : Ps. 37:2; 90:5, 6
- Proverbs 27:26 : [1 Tim. 6:8]
- Proverbs 27:27 : [See ver. 26 above]; [1 Tim. 6:8]