Chapter 27

¹Boast not for to morrow, for thou knowest not what the day to come may bring forth. ²Let another praise thee, and not thy own mouth: a stranger, and not thy own lips. ³A stone is heavy, and sand weighty: but the anger of a fool is heavier than them both. ⁴Anger hath no mercy, nor fury when it breaketh forth: and who can bear the violence of one provoked? ⁵Open rebuke is better than hidden love. ⁶Better are the wounds of a friend, than the deceitful kisses of an enemy. ⁷A soul that is full shall tread upon the honeycomb : and a soul that is hungry shall take even bitter for sweet. ⁸As a bird that wandereth from her nest, so is a man that leaveth his place. ⁹Ointment and perfumes rejoice the heart: and the good counsels of a friend are sweet to the soul. ¹⁰Thy own friend, and thy father's friend forsake not: and go not into thy brother's house in the day of thy affliction. Better is a neighbour that is near, than a brother afar off. ¹¹Study wisdom, my son, and make my heart joyful, that thou mayst give an answer to him that reproacheth. ¹²The prudent man seeing evil hideth himself: little ones passing on have suffered losses. ¹³Take away his garment that hath been surety for a stranger: and take from him a pledge for strangers. ¹⁴He that blesseth his neighbour with a loud voice, rising in the night, shall be like to him that curseth. ¹⁵Roofs dropping through in a cold day, and a contentious woman are alike. ¹⁶He that retaineth her, is as he that would hold the wind, and shall call in the oil of his right hand. ¹⁷Iron sharpeneth iron, so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. ¹⁸He that keepeth the fig tree, shall eat the fruit thereof: and he that is the keeper of his master, shall be glorified. ¹⁹As the faces of them that look therein, shine in the water, so-the hearts of men are laid open to the wise. ²⁰Hell and destruction are never filled: so the eyes of men are never satisfied. ²¹As silver is tried in the fining-pot and gold in the furnace: so a man is tried by the mouth of him that praiseth. The heart of the wicked seeketh after evils, but the righteous heart seeketh after knowledge. ²²Though thou shouldst bray a fool in the mortar, as when a pestle striketh upon sodden barley, his folly would not be taken from him. ²³Be diligent to know the countenance of thy cattle, and consider thy own flocks : ²⁴For thou shalt not always have power: but a crown shall be given to generation and generation. ²⁵The meadows are open, and the green herbs have appeared, and the hay is gathered out of the mountains. ²⁶Lambs are for thy clothing: and kids for the price of the field. ²⁷Let the milk of the goats be enough for thy food, and for the necessities of thy house, and for maintenance for thy handmaids.