1 Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. 2 Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips. 3 A stone [is] heavy, and the sand weighty; but a fool's wrath [is] heavier than them both. 4 Wrath [is] cruel, and anger [is] outrageous; but who [is] able to stand before envy? 5 Open rebuke [is] better than secret love. 6 Faithful [are] the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy [are] deceitful. 7 The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet. 8 As a bird that wandereth from her nest, so [is] a man that wandereth from his place. 9 Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so [doth] the sweetness of a man's friend by hearty counsel. 10 Thine own friend, and thy father's friend, forsake not; neither go into thy brother's house in the day of thy calamity: [for] better [is] a neighbour [that is] near than a brother far off. 11 My son, be wise, and make my heart glad, that I may answer him that reproacheth me. 12 A prudent [man] foreseeth the evil, [and] hideth himself; [but] the simple pass on, [and] are punished. 13 Take his garment that is surety for a stranger, and take a pledge of him for a strange woman. 14 He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, it shall be counted a curse to him. 15 A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike. 16 Whosoever hideth her hideth the wind, and the ointment of his right hand, [which] bewrayeth [itself]. 17 Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. 18 Whoso keepeth the fig tree shall eat the fruit thereof: so he that waiteth on his master shall be honoured. 19 As in water face [answereth] to face, so the heart of man to man. 20 Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied. 21 [As] the fining pot for silver, and the furnace for gold; so [is] a man to his praise. 22 Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, [yet] will not his foolishness depart from him. 23 Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, [and] look well to thy herds. 24 For riches [are] not for ever: and doth the crown [endure] to every generation? 25 The hay appeareth, and the tender grass sheweth itself, and herbs of the mountains are gathered. 26 The lambs [are] for thy clothing, and the goats [are] the price of the field. 27 And [thou shalt have] goats' milk enough for thy food, for the food of thy household, and [for] the maintenance for thy maidens. (Proverbs 27:1-27 AV)
|