- 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.
- 6Faithful are the wounds of a friend; 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: better is a neighbor who is near 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 even 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.