Proverbs 27:6-21

You can trust a friend who wounds you with his honesty, but your enemy’s pretended flattery comes from insincerity. When your soul is full, you turn down even the sweetest honey. But when your soul is starving, every bitter thing becomes sweet. Like a bird that has fallen from its nest is the one who is dislodged from his home. Sweet friendships refresh the soul and awaken our hearts with joy, for good friends are like the anointing oil that yields the fragrant incense of God’s presence. So never give up on a friend or abandon a friend of your father— for in the day of your brokenness you won’t have to run to a relative for help. A friend nearby is better than a relative far away. My son, when you walk in wisdom, my heart is filled with gladness, for the way you live is proof that I’ve not taught you in vain. A wise, shrewd person discerns the danger ahead and prepares himself, but the naïve simpleton never looks ahead and suffers the consequences. Cosign for one you barely know and you will pay a great price! Anyone stupid enough to guarantee the loan of another deserves to have his property seized in payment. Do you think you’re blessing your neighbors when you sing at the top of your lungs early in the morning? Don’t be fooled— they’ll curse you for doing it! An endless drip, drip, drip, from a leaky faucet and the words of a cranky, nagging wife have the same effect. Can you stop the north wind from blowing or grasp a handful of oil? That’s easier than to stop her from complaining. It takes a grinding wheel to sharpen a blade, and so one person sharpens the character of another. Tend an orchard and you’ll have fruit to eat. Serve the Master’s interests and you’ll receive honor that’s sweet. Just as no two faces are exactly alike, so every heart is different. Death and destruction are never filled, and the desires of men’s hearts are insatiable. Fire is the way to test the purity of silver and gold, but the character of a man is tested by giving him a measure of fame.