Proverbs 27:1-27

Don’t brag about tomorrow; you don’t know what may happen then. Don’t praise yourself. Let someone else do it. Let the praise come from a stranger and not from your own mouth. Stone is heavy, and sand is weighty, but a complaining fool is worse than either. Anger is cruel and destroys like a flood, but no one can put up with jealousy! It is better to correct someone openly than to have love and not show it. The slap of a friend can be trusted to help you, but the kisses of an enemy are nothing but lies. When you are full, not even honey tastes good, but when you are hungry, even something bitter tastes sweet. A person who leaves his home is like a bird that leaves its nest. The sweet smell of perfume and oils is pleasant, and so is good advice from a friend. Don’t forget your friend or your parent’s friend. Don’t always go to your family for help when trouble comes. A neighbor close by is better than a family far away. Be wise, my child, and make me happy. Then I can respond to any insult. The wise see danger ahead and avoid it, but fools keep going and get into trouble. Take the coat of someone who promises to pay a stranger’s loan, and keep it until he pays what the stranger owes. If you loudly greet your neighbor early in the morning, he will think of it as a curse. A quarreling wife is as bothersome as a continual dripping on a rainy day. Stopping her is like stopping the wind or trying to grab oil in your hand. As iron sharpens iron, so people can improve each other. Whoever tends a fig tree gets to eat its fruit, and whoever takes care of his master will receive honor. As water reflects your face, so your mind shows what kind of person you are. People will never stop dying and being destroyed, and they will never stop wanting more than they have. A hot furnace tests silver and gold, and people are tested by the praise they receive. Even if you ground up a foolish person like grain in a bowl, you couldn’t remove the foolishness. Be sure you know how your sheep are doing, and pay attention to the condition of your cattle. Riches will not go on forever, nor do governments go on forever. Bring in the hay, and let the new grass appear. Gather the grass from the hills. Make clothes from the lambs’ wool, and sell some goats to buy a field. There will be plenty of goat’s milk to feed you and your family and to make your servant girls healthy.