Proverbs 27

English Standard Version

27 Do not boast about tomorrow,
    ^(A)for you do not know what a day may bring.
²Let ^(B)another praise you, and not your own mouth;
    a stranger, and not your own lips.
³A stone is heavy, and sand is weighty,
    but ^(C)a fool's provocation is heavier than both.
⁴Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming,
    but who can stand before ^(D)jealousy?
⁵^(E)Better is open rebuke
    than hidden love.
⁶Faithful are ^(F)the wounds of a friend;
    profuse are the kisses of an enemy.
⁷One who is full loathes ^(G)honey,
    but to one who is hungry everything bitter is sweet.
⁸Like ^(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]
¹⁰Do 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 neighbor 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]
¹⁴Whoever blesses his neighbor 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;
¹⁶to restrain her is to restrain the wind
    or to grasp^[c] oil in one's right hand.
¹⁷Iron 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 honored.
¹⁹As 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,
²⁴for ^(AC)riches do not last forever;
    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