| Chapter 27 |
1 | Boast not thyself of to-morrow, For thou knowest not what a day bringeth forth. |
2 | Let another praise thee, and not thine own mouth, A stranger, and not thine own lips. |
3 | A stone [is] heavy, and the sand [is] heavy, And the anger of a fool Is heavier than they both. |
4 | Fury [is] fierce, and anger [is] overflowing, And who standeth before jealousy? |
5 | Better [is] open reproof than hidden love. |
6 | Faithful are the wounds of a lover, And abundant the kisses of an enemy. |
7 | A satiated soul treadeth down a honeycomb, And [to] a hungry soul every bitter thing [is] sweet. |
8 | As a bird wandering from her nest, So [is] a man wandering from his place. |
9 | Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart, And the sweetness of one's friend -- from counsel of the soul. |
10 | Thine own friend, and the friend of thy father, forsake not, And the house of thy brother enter not In a day of thy calamity, Better [is] a near neighbour than a brother afar off. |
11 | Be wise, my son, and rejoice my heart. And I return my reproacher a word. |
12 | The prudent hath seen the evil, he is hidden, The simple have passed on, they are punished. |
13 | Take his garment, when a stranger hath been surety, And for a strange woman pledge it. |
14 | Whoso is saluting his friend with a loud voice, In the morning rising early, A light thing it is reckoned to him. |
15 | A continual dropping in a day of rain, And a woman of contentions are alike, |
16 | Whoso is hiding her hath hidden the wind, And the ointment of his right hand calleth out. |
17 | Iron by iron is sharpened, And a man sharpens the face of his friend. |
18 | The keeper of a fig-tree eateth its fruit, And the preserver of his master is honoured. |
19 | As [in] water the face [is] to face, So the heart of man to man. |
20 | Sheol and destruction are not satisfied, And the eyes of man are not satisfied. |
21 | A refining pot [is] for silver, and a furnace for gold, And a man according to his praise. |
22 | If thou dost beat the foolish in a mortar, Among washed things -- with a pestle, His folly turneth not aside from off him. |
23 | Know well the face of thy flock, Set thy heart to the droves, |
24 | For riches [are] not to the age, Nor a crown to generation and generation. |
25 | Revealed was the hay, and seen the tender grass, And gathered the herbs of mountains. |
26 | Lambs [are] for thy clothing, And the price of the field [are] he-goats, |
27 | And a sufficiency of goats' milk [is] for thy bread, For bread to thy house, and life to thy damsels! |