My Son, Be Wise

27 Do(A) not boast about tomorrow,
For you do not know what a day may bring forth.

(B)Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth;
A stranger, and not your own lips.

A stone is heavy and sand is weighty,
But a fool’s wrath is heavier than both of them.

Wrath is cruel and anger a torrent,
But (C)who is able to stand before jealousy?

(D)Open rebuke is better
Than love carefully concealed.

Faithful are the wounds of a friend,
But the kisses of an enemy are (E)deceitful.

A satisfied soul [a]loathes the honeycomb,
But to a hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.

Like a bird that wanders from its nest
Is a man who wanders from his place.

Ointment and perfume delight the heart,
And the sweetness of a man’s friend gives delight by [b]hearty counsel.

10 Do not forsake your own friend or your father’s friend,
Nor go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity;
(F)Better is a neighbor nearby than a brother far away.

11 My son, be wise, and make my heart glad,
(G)That I may answer him who reproaches me.

12 A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself;
The simple pass on and are (H)punished.

13 Take the garment of him who is surety for a stranger,
And hold it in pledge when he is surety for a seductress.

14 He who blesses his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning,
It will be counted a curse to him.

15 A (I)continual dripping on a very rainy day
And a contentious woman are alike;
16 Whoever [c]restrains her restrains the wind,
And grasps oil with his right hand.

17 As iron sharpens iron,
So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.

18 (J)Whoever [d]keeps the fig tree will eat its fruit;
So he who waits on his master will be honored.

19 As in water face reflects face,
So a man’s heart reveals the man.

20 (K)Hell[e] and [f]Destruction are never full;
So (L)the eyes of man are never satisfied.

21 (M)The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold,
And a man is valued by what others say of him.

22 (N)Though you grind a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain,
Yet his foolishness will not depart from him.

23 Be diligent to know the state of your (O)flocks,
And attend to your herds;
24 For riches are not forever,
Nor does a crown endure to all generations.
25 (P)When the hay is removed, and the tender grass shows itself,
And the herbs of the mountains are gathered in,
26 The lambs will provide your clothing,
And the goats the price of a field;
27 You shall have enough goats’ milk for your food,
For the food of your household,
And the nourishment of your maidservants.

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 27:7 tramples on
  2. Proverbs 27:9 Lit. counsel of the soul
  3. Proverbs 27:16 Lit. hides
  4. Proverbs 27:18 protects or tends
  5. Proverbs 27:20 Or Sheol
  6. Proverbs 27:20 Heb. Abaddon

27 Boast not for to morrow, for thou knowest not what the day to come may bring forth.

Let another praise thee, and not thy own mouth: a stranger, and not thy own lips.

A stone is heavy, and sand weighty: but the anger of a fool is heavier than them both.

Anger hath no mercy, nor fury when it breaketh forth: and who can bear the violence of one provoked?

Open rebuke is better than hidden love.

Better are the wounds of a friend, than the deceitful kisses of an enemy.

A soul that is full shall tread upon the honeycomb: and a soul that is hungry shall take even bitter for sweet.

As a bird that wandereth from her nest, so is a man that leaveth his place.

Ointment and perfumes rejoice the heart: and the good counsels of a friend are sweet to the soul.

10 Thy own friend, and thy father's friend forsake not: and go not into thy brother's house in the day of thy affliction. Better is a neighbour that is near, than a brother afar off.

11 Study wisdom, my son, and make my heart joyful, that thou mayst give an answer to him that reproacheth.

12 The prudent man seeing evil hideth himself: little ones passing on have suffered losses.

13 Take away his garment that hath been surety for a stranger: and take from him a pledge for strangers.

14 He that blesseth his neighbour with a loud voice, rising in the night, shall be like to him that curseth.

15 Roofs dropping through in a cold day, and a contentious woman are alike.

16 He that retaineth her, is as he that would hold the wind, and shall call in the oil of his right hand.

17 Iron sharpeneth iron, so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.

18 He that keepeth the fig tree, shall eat the fruit thereof: and he that is the keeper of his master, shall be glorified.

19 As the faces of them that look therein, shine in the water, so-the hearts of men are laid open to the wise.

20 Hell and destruction are never filled: so the eyes of men are never satisfied.

21 As silver is tried in the fining-pot and gold in the furnace: so a man is tried by the mouth of him that praiseth. The heart of the wicked seeketh after evils, but the righteous heart seeketh after knowledge.

22 Though thou shouldst bray a fool in the mortar, as when a pestle striketh upon sodden barley, his folly would not be taken from him.

23 Be diligent to know the countenance of thy cattle, and consider thy own flocks:

24 For thou shalt not always have power: but a crown shall be given to generation and generation.

25 The meadows are open, and the green herbs have appeared, and the hay is gathered out of the mountains.

26 Lambs are for thy clothing: and kids for the price of the field.

27 Let the milk of the goats be enough for thy food, and for the necessities of thy house, and for maintenance for thy handmaids.

'Proverbs 27 ' not found for the version: Disciples’ Literal New Testament.