27 Don’t brag about tomorrow.
    You don’t know what a day will bring.

² Let another person praise you, and not your own mouth.
    Let an outsider praise you, and not your own lips.

³ Stones are heavy, and sand weighs a lot.
    But letting a foolish person make you angry is a heavier load than both of them.

⁴ Anger is mean, and great anger overpowers you.
    But who can face jealousy?

⁵ Being warned openly is better
    than being loved in secret.

⁶ Wounds from a friend can be trusted.
    But an enemy kisses you many times.

⁷ When you are full, you even hate honey.
    When you are hungry, even what is bitter tastes sweet.

⁸ Anyone who runs away from home
    is like a bird that flies away from its nest.

⁹ Perfume and incense bring joy to your heart.
    And the sweetness of a friend comes from their honest advice.

¹⁰ Don’t desert your friend or a friend of your family.
    And don’t go to your relative’s house when trouble strikes you.
    A neighbor nearby is better than a relative far away.

¹¹ My son, be wise and bring joy to my heart.
    Then I can answer anyone who makes fun of me.

¹² Wise people see danger and go to a safe place.
    But childish people keep on going and suffer for it.

¹³ Take the coat of one who puts up money for what a stranger owes.
    Hold it until you get paid back if it is done for an outsider.

¹⁴ Suppose you loudly bless your neighbor early in the morning.
    Then you might as well be cursing him.

¹⁵ A nagging wife is like the dripping
    of a leaky roof in a rainstorm.
¹⁶ Stopping her is like trying to stop the wind.
    It’s like trying to grab olive oil with your hand.

¹⁷ As iron sharpens iron,
    so one person sharpens another.

¹⁸ A person who guards a fig tree will eat its fruit.
    And a person who protects their master will be honored.

¹⁹ When you look into water, you see a likeness of your face.
    When you look into your heart, you see what you are really like.

²⁰ Death and the Grave are never satisfied.
    People’s eyes are never satisfied either.

²¹ Fire tests silver, and heat tests gold.
    But people are tested by the praise they receive.

²² Suppose you could grind a foolish person in a mill.
    Suppose you could grind them as you would grind grain with a tool.
    Even then you could not remove their foolishness from them.

²³ Be sure you know how your flocks are doing.
    Pay careful attention to your herds.
²⁴ Riches don’t last forever.
    And a crown is not secure for all time to come.
²⁵ The hay is removed, and new growth appears.
    The grass from the hills is gathered in.
²⁶ Then your lambs will provide you with clothes.
    And the money from selling your goats will buy you a field.
²⁷ You will have plenty of goats’ milk to feed your family.
    It will also feed your female servants.