Proverbs27

World English Bible · Public Domain

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¹Don’t boast about tomorrow; for you don’t know what a day may bring.

²Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.

³A stone is heavy, and sand is a burden; but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both.

⁴Wrath is cruel, and anger is overwhelming; but who is able to stand before jealousy?

⁵Better is open rebuke than hidden love.

⁶The wounds of a friend are faithful, although the kisses of an enemy are profuse.

⁷A full soul loathes a honeycomb; but to a hungry soul, every bitter thing is sweet.

⁸As a bird that wanders from her nest, so is a man who wanders from his home.

⁹Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart; so does earnest counsel from a man’s friend.

¹⁰Don’t forsake your friend and your father’s friend. Don’t go to your brother’s house in the day of your disaster. A neighbor who is near is better than a distant brother.

¹¹Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart, then I can answer my tormentor.

¹²A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge; but the simple pass on, and suffer for it.

¹³Take his garment when he puts up collateral for a stranger. Hold it for a wayward woman!

¹⁴He who blesses his neighbor with a loud voice early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse by him.

¹⁵A continual dropping on a rainy day and a contentious wife are alike:

¹⁶restraining her is like restraining the wind, or like grasping oil in his right hand.

¹⁷Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens his friend’s countenance.

¹⁸Whoever tends the fig tree shall eat its fruit. He who looks after his master shall be honored.

¹⁹Like water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man.

²⁰Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied; and a man’s eyes are never satisfied.

²¹The crucible is for silver, and the furnace for gold; but man is refined by his praise.

²²Though you grind a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with grain, yet his foolishness will not be removed from him.

²³Know well the state of your flocks, and pay attention to your herds,

²⁴for riches are not forever, nor does the crown endure to all generations.

²⁵The hay is removed, and the new growth appears, the grasses of the hills are gathered in.

²⁶The lambs are for your clothing, and the goats are the price of a field.

²⁷There will be plenty of goats’ milk for your food, for your family’s food, and for the nourishment of your servant girls.

Study Guide

Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Proverbs 27.

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v1

We know not what a day may bring forth. This does not forbid preparing for to-morrow, but presuming upon to-morrow. We must not put off the great work of conversion, that one thing needful.

v2

There may be occasion for us to justify ourselves, but not to praise ourselves.

vv3-4

Those who have no command of their passions, sink under the load.

Key Words

notH408Hebrew

אַל: not (the qualified negation, used as a deprecative); once (Job 24:25) as a noun, nothing

boastH1984Hebrew

הָלַל: to be clear (orig. of sound, but usually of color); to shine; hence, to make ashow, to boast; and thus to be (clamorously) foolish; to rave; causatively, to celebrate; also to stultify

tomorrowH4279Hebrew

מָחָר: properly, deferred, i.e. the morrow; usually (adverbially) tomorrow; indefinitely, hereafter

forH3588Hebrew

כִּי: (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below); often largely modified by other particles annexed

notH3808Hebrew

לֹא: not (the simple or abs. negation); by implication, no; often used with other particles

knowH3045Hebrew

יָדַע: to know (properly, to ascertain by seeing); used in a great variety of senses, figuratively, literally, euphemistically and inferentially (including observation, care, recognition; and causatively, instruction, designation, punishment, etc.)

whatH4100Hebrew

מָה: properly, interrogative what? (including how? why? when?); but also exclamation, what! (including how!), or indefinitely what (including whatever, and even relatively, that which); often used with prefixes in various adverbial or conjunctive senses

dayH3117Hebrew

יוֹם: a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb)

bringH3205Hebrew

יָלַד: to bear young; causatively, to beget; medically, to act as midwife; specifically, to show lineage

anotherH2114Hebrew

זוּר: to turn aside (especially for lodging); hence to be aforeigner, strange, profane; specifically (active participle) to commit adultery