Home Master Index
←Prev   Proverbs 27 as rendered by/in  Next→ 


27:1  Do not boast of [yourself and] tomorrow, for you know not what a day may bring forth.
27:2  Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.
27:3  Stone is heavy and sand weighty, but a fool’s [unreasoning] wrath is heavier and more intolerable than both of them.
27:4  Wrath is cruel and anger is an overwhelming flood, but who is able to stand before jealousy?
27:5  Open rebuke is better than love that is hidden.
27:6  Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are lavish and deceitful.
27:7  He who is satiated [with sensual pleasures] loathes and treads underfoot a honeycomb, but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.
27:8  Like a bird that wanders from her nest, so is a man who strays from his home.
27:9  Oil and perfume rejoice the heart; so does the sweetness of a friend’s counsel that comes from the heart.
27:10  Your own friend and your father’s friend, forsake them not; neither go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity. Better is a neighbor who is near [in spirit] than a brother who is far off [in heart].
27:11  My son, be wise, and make my heart glad, that I may answer him who reproaches me [as having failed in my parental duty].
27:12  A prudent man sees the evil and hides himself, but the simple pass on and are punished [with suffering].
27:13  [The judge tells the creditor] Take the garment of one who is security for a stranger; and hold him in pledge when he is security for foreigners.
27:14  The flatterer who loudly praises and glorifies his neighbor, rising early in the morning, it shall be counted as cursing him [for he will be suspected of sinister purposes].
27:15  A continual dripping on a day of violent showers and a contentious woman are alike;
27:16  Whoever attempts to restrain [a contentious woman] might as well try to stop the wind—his right hand encounters oil [and she slips through his fingers].
27:17  Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend [to show rage or worthy purpose].
27:18  Whoever tends the fig tree shall eat its fruit; so he who patiently and faithfully guards and heeds his master shall be honored.
27:19  As in water face answers to and reflects face, so the heart of man to man.
27:20  Sheol (the place of the dead) and Abaddon (the place of destruction) are never satisfied; so [the lust of] the eyes of man is never satisfied.
27:21  As the refining pot for silver and the furnace for gold [bring forth all the impurities of the metal], so let a man be in his trial of praise [ridding himself of all that is base or insincere; for a man is judged by what he praises and of what he boasts].
27:22  Even though like grain you should pound a fool in a mortar with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him.
27:23  Be diligent to know the state of your flocks, and look well to your herds;
27:24  For riches are not forever; does a crown endure to all generations?
27:25  When the hay is gone, the tender grass shows itself, and herbs of the mountain are gathered in,
27:26  The lambs will be for your clothing, and the goats [will furnish you] the price of a field.
27:27  And there will be goats’ milk enough for your food, for the food of your household, and for the maintenance of your maids.