Proverbs 25:15-28

Common English Bible

¹⁵ A commander can be persuaded with patience,
    and a tender tongue can break a bone.
¹⁶ If you find honey, eat just the right amount;
    otherwise, you’ll get full and vomit it up.
¹⁷ Don’t spend too much time in your neighbor’s house.
    Otherwise, they’ll get fed up with you and hate you.
¹⁸ People who testify falsely against their neighbors
    are like a club, sword, and sharpened arrow.
¹⁹ Trusting a treacherous person at a difficult time
    is like having a bad tooth or a wobbly foot.
²⁰ Singing a song to a troubled heart
    is like taking off a garment on a cold day
    or putting vinegar on a wound.^[a]
21 If your enemies are starving, feed them some bread;
    if they are thirsty, give them water to drink.
²² By doing this, you will heap burning coals on their heads,
    and the Lord will reward you.
²³ The north wind stirs up rain,
    and a person who plots quietly provokes angry faces.
²⁴ Better to live on the edge of a roof
    than to share a house with a contentious woman.
²⁵ Good news from a distant land
    is like cold water for a weary person.
²⁶ A righteous person giving in to the wicked
    is like a contaminated spring or a polluted fountain.
²⁷ Eating too much honey isn’t good,
    nor is it appropriate to seek honor.
²⁸ A person without self-control
    is like a breached city, one with no walls.