15 (A)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[a] oil in one's right hand.
17 Iron sharpens iron,
    and one man sharpens another.[b]
18 (B)Whoever tends a fig tree will eat its fruit,
    and he who (C)guards his master will be honored.
19 As in water face reflects face,
    so the heart of man reflects the man.
20 (D)Sheol and Abaddon are (E)never satisfied,
    and (F)never satisfied are the eyes of man.
21 (G)The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,
    and a man is tested by his praise.
22 (H)Crush a fool in a mortar with a pestle
    along with crushed grain,
    yet his folly will not depart from him.

23 (I)Know well the condition of your flocks,
    and (J)give attention to your herds,
24 for (K)riches do not last forever;
    and does a crown endure to all generations?
25 (L)When the grass is gone and the new growth appears
    and the vegetation of the mountains is gathered,
26 (M)the lambs will provide your clothing,
    and the goats the price of a field.
27 (N)There will be enough goats' milk for your food,
    for the food of your household
    and maintenance for your girls.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 27:16 Hebrew to meet with
  2. Proverbs 27:17 Hebrew sharpens the face of another

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