Proverbs 27

More Proverbs of Solomon

1 Do not boast about tomorrow,
y for you do not know what a day may bring.
 2 Let z another praise you, and not your own mouth;
a stranger, and not your own lips.
 3 A stone is heavy, and sand is weighty,
but a a fool's provocation is heavier than both.
 4 Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming,
but who can stand before b jealousy?
 5 c Better is open rebuke
than hidden love.
 6 Faithful are d the wounds of a friend;
profuse are the kisses of an enemy.
 7 One who is full loathes e honey,
but to one who is hungry everything bitter is sweet.
 8 Like f a bird that strays from its nest
is a man who strays from his home.
 9 g Oil and perfume make the heart glad,
and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel. 1
10 Do not forsake your friend and h your father's friend,
and do not go to your brother's house in the day of your calamity.
i Better is a neighbor who is near
than a brother who is far away.
 11 j Be wise, k my son, and l make my heart glad,
that I may m answer him who reproaches me.
 12 n The prudent sees danger and hides himself,
but o the simple go on and suffer for it.
 13 p Take a man's garment when he has put up security for a stranger,
and hold it in pledge when he puts up security for an adulteress. 2
14 Whoever blesses his neighbor with a loud voice,
rising early in the morning,
will be counted as cursing.
 15 q A continual dripping on a rainy day
and a quarrelsome wife are alike;
 16 to restrain her is to restrain the wind
or to grasp 3 oil in one's right hand.
 17 Iron sharpens iron,
and one man sharpens another. 4
18 r Whoever tends a fig tree will eat its fruit,
and he who s guards his master will be honored.
 19 As in water face reflects face,
so the heart of man reflects the man.
 20 t Sheol and Abaddon are u never satisfied,
and v never satisfied are the eyes of man.
 21 w The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,
and a man is tested by his praise.
 22 x Crush a fool in a mortar with a pestle
along with crushed grain,
yet his folly will not depart from him.

23 y Know well the condition of your flocks,
and y give attention to your herds,
 24 for z riches do not last forever;
and does a crown endure to all generations?
 25 a When the grass is gone and the new growth appears
and the vegetation of the mountains is gathered,
 26 b the lambs will provide your clothing,
and the goats the price of a field.
 27 b There will be enough goats' milk for your food,
for the food of your household
and maintenance for your girls.

  1. Cross References
    Luke 12:19 - 20
    And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.
    James 4:13 - 14
    Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit" -
  2. Cross References
    2 Corinthians 10:12
    Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding.
    2 Corinthians 10:18
    For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.
    Proverbs 25:27
    It is not good to eat much honey, nor is it glorious to seek one's own glory.
    2 Corinthians 12:11
    I have been a fool! You forced me to it, for I ought to have been commended by you. For I was not at all inferior to these super-apostles, even though I am nothing.
  3. Cross References
    Proverbs 12:16
    The vexation of a fool is known at once, but the prudent ignores an insult.
    Proverbs 17:12
    Let a man meet a she-bear robbed of her cubs rather than a fool in his folly.
  4. Cross References
    Proverbs 6:34
    For jealousy makes a man furious, and he will not spare when he takes revenge.
  5. Cross References
    Proverbs 28:23
    Whoever rebukes a man will afterward find more favor than he who flatters with his tongue.
  6. Cross References
    Psalms 141:5
    Let a righteous man strike me - it is a kindness; let him rebuke me - it is oil for my head; let my head not refuse it. Yet my prayer is continually against their evil deeds.
  7. Cross References
    Proverbs 25:16
    If you have found honey, eat only enough for you, lest you have your fill of it and vomit it.
  8. Cross References
    Proverbs 26:2
    Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying, a curse that is causeless does not alight.
  9. Cross References
    Psalms 23:5
    You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
  10. Cross References
    1 Kings 12:6 - 8
    Then King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men, who had stood before Solomon his father while he was yet alive, saying, "How do you advise me to answer this people?
    2 Chronicles 10:6 - 8
    Then King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men, who had stood before Solomon his father while he was yet alive, saying, "How do you advise me to answer this people?
  11. Cross References
    Proverbs 17:17
    A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
  12. Cross References
    Proverbs 6:6
    Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.
  13. Cross References
    Proverbs 10:1
    The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother.
    Proverbs 23:15
    My son, if your heart is wise, my heart too will be glad.
    Proverbs 23:24
    The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.
  14. Cross References
    Proverbs 29:3
    He who loves wisdom makes his father glad, but a companion of prostitutes squanders his wealth.
  15. Cross References
    Psalms 119:42
    Then shall I have an answer for him who taunts me, for I trust in your word.
    Psalms 127:5
    Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.
  16. Cross References
    Proverbs 22:3
    The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it.
  17. Cross References
    Proverbs 1:4
    To give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth -
  18. Cross References
    Proverbs 20:16
    Take a man's garment when he has put up security for a stranger, and hold it in pledge when he puts up security for foreigners.
  19. Cross References
    Proverbs 19:13
    A foolish son is ruin to his father, and a wife's quarreling is a continual dripping of rain.
  20. Cross References
    Song of Solomon 8:12
    My vineyard, my very own, is before me; you, O Solomon, may have the thousand, and the keepers of the fruit two hundred.
    1 Corinthians 3:8
    He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor.
    1 Corinthians 9:7
    Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk?
    2 Timothy 2:6
    It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops.
  21. Cross References
    Matthew 25:21
    His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.
  22. Cross References
    Proverbs 15:11
    Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the Lord ; how much more the hearts of the children of man!
    Job 26:6
    Sheol is naked before God, and Abaddon has no covering.
  23. Cross References
    Proverbs 30:15 - 16
    The leech has two daughters: Give and Give. Three things are never satisfied; four never say, "Enough":
    Habakkuk 2:5
    "Moreover, wine is a traitor, an arrogant man who is never at rest. His greed is as wide as Sheol; like death he has never enough. He gathers for himself all nations and collects as his own all peoples."
    Proverbs 1:12
    Like Sheol let us swallow them alive, and whole, like those who go down to the pit.
  24. Cross References
    Ecclesiastes 1:8
    All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
    Ecclesiastes 4:8
    One person who has no other, either son or brother, yet there is no end to all his toil, and his eyes are never satisfied with riches, so that he never asks, "For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?" This also is vanity and an unhappy business.
  25. Cross References
    Proverbs 17:3
    The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the Lord tests hearts.
  26. Cross References
    Proverbs 23:35
    "They struck me," you will say, "but I was not hurt; they beat me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake? I must have another drink."
    Isaiah 1:5
    Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
    Jeremiah 5:3
    O Lord, do not your eyes look for truth? You have struck them down, but they felt no anguish; you have consumed them, but they refused to take correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to repent.
  27. Cross References
    John 10:3
    To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
    John 10:14
    I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me.
    Acts 20:28
    Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.
    1 Peter 5:2
    Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly.
    1 Peter 5:4
    And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
  28. Cross References
    John 10:3
    To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
    John 10:14
    I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me.
    Acts 20:28
    Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.
    1 Peter 5:2
    Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly.
    1 Peter 5:4
    And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
  29. Cross References
    Proverbs 23:5
    When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven.
  30. Cross References
    Psalms 37:2
    For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb.
    Psalms 90:5 - 6
    You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning:
  31. Cross References
    1 Timothy 6:8
    But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.
  32. Cross References
    Proverbs 27:26
    The lambs will provide your clothing, and the goats the price of a field.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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