Old Testament · Proverbs

Proverbs 27

Do Not Boast about Tomorrow

(James 4:13–17)

1Do not boast yourself of tomorrow, for you do not know what a day will bring forth.
2Let a stranger praise you, and not your own mouth; a foreigner, and not your own lips.
3A stone is heavy and the sand a weight, but a fool's vexation is heavier than both of them.
4Cruelty of wrath and a flood of anger—but who can stand before jealousy?
5Better is open rebuke than hidden love.
6Faithful are the wounds of one who loves, but profuse are the kisses of one who hates.
7A sated soul^a tramples a honeycomb, but to a hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.
8As a bird wandering from its nest, so is a man^b wandering from his place.
9Oil and incense gladden the heart, and the sweetness of one's friend is from the counsel of the soul.
10Your friend and the friend of your father, do not forsake; and do not enter the house of your brother in the day of your calamity; better a neighbor near than a brother far off.
11Be wise, my son, and gladden my heart, that I may return to the one who reproaches me a word.
12A prudent one sees evil and hides himself; the simple pass on and are punished.
13Take his garment, for he has gone surety for a stranger; and for a foreign woman hold him in pledge.
14He who blesses his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, it shall be reckoned to him as a curse.
15A continual dripping on a day of steady rain and a contentious woman^c are alike.
16He who hides her hides the wind^d, and the oil of his right hand cries out.
17Iron sharpens iron, and a man sharpens the face of his friend.
18He who keeps a fig tree shall eat its fruit, and he who guards his master shall be honored.
19As in water face answers to face, so the heart of man^e to man.
20Sheol and Abaddon are not satisfied, and the eyes of man are not satisfied.
21A refining pot for silver and a furnace for gold, and a man according to his praise.
22Though you pound the fool in a mortar with a pestle among the grain, his folly will not depart from him.
23Knowing, know the face of your flock; set your heart to the herds.
24For wealth is not forever, nor a crown for generation and generation.
25The grass is uncovered, and the tender growth appears, and the herbs of the mountains are gathered.
26Lambs are for your clothing, and goats the price of a field.
27And enough goats' milk for your food, for the food of your house, and life^f for your maidens.