Chapter 27

  Boast not for to morrow, for thou knowest not what the day to come may bring forth.  

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  Let another praise thee, and not thy own mouth: a stranger, and not thy own lips.  

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  A stone is heavy, and sand weighty: but the anger of a fool is heavier than them both.  

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  Anger hath no mercy, nor fury when it breaketh forth: and who can bear the violence of one provoked?  

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  Open rebuke is better than hidden love.  

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  Better are the wounds of a friend, than the deceitful kisses of an enemy.  

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  A soul that is full shall tread upon the honeycomb : and a soul that is hungry shall take even bitter for sweet.  

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  As a bird that wandereth from her nest, so is a man that leaveth his place.  

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  Ointment and perfumes rejoice the heart: and the good counsels of a friend are sweet to the soul.  

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  Thy 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.  

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  Study wisdom, my son, and make my heart joyful, that thou mayst give an answer to him that reproacheth.  

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  The prudent man seeing evil hideth himself: little ones passing on have suffered losses.  

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  Take away his garment that hath been surety for a stranger: and take from him a pledge for strangers.  

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  He that blesseth his neighbour with a loud voice, rising in the night, shall be like to him that curseth.  

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  Roofs dropping through in a cold day, and a contentious woman are alike.  

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  He that retaineth her, is as he that would hold the wind, and shall call in the oil of his right hand.  

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  Iron sharpeneth iron, so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.  

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  He that keepeth the fig tree, shall eat the fruit thereof: and he that is the keeper of his master, shall be glorified.  

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  As the faces of them that look therein, shine in the water, so-the hearts of men are laid open to the wise.  

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  Hell and destruction are never filled: so the eyes of men are never satisfied.  

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  As 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.  

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  Though thou shouldst bray a fool in the mortar, as when a pestle striketh upon sodden barley, his folly would not be taken from him.  

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  Be diligent to know the countenance of thy cattle, and consider thy own flocks :  

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  For thou shalt not always have power: but a crown shall be given to generation and generation.  

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  The meadows are open, and the green herbs have appeared, and the hay is gathered out of the mountains.  

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  Lambs are for thy clothing: and kids for the price of the field.  

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  Let the milk of the goats be enough for thy food, and for the necessities of thy house, and for maintenance for thy handmaids.  

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