Chapter 27

  Boast not thyself of to-morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.  

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

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  A stone is heavy, and the sand weighty; but a fool's wrath is heavier than both.  

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  Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?  

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  Open rebuke is better than secret love.  

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  Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.  

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  The full soul lotheth a honey-comb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.  

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

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  Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man's friend by hearty counsel.  

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  Thy own friend, and thy father's friend, forsake not; neither go into thy brother's house in the day of thy calamity: for better is a neighbor that is near, than a brother far off.  

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  My son, be wise, and make my heart glad, that I may answer him that reproacheth me.  

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  A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished.  

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  Take his garment that is surety for a stranger, and take a pledge of him for a strange woman.  

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  He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, it shall be counted a curse to him.  

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  A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike.  

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  Whoever hideth her hideth the wind, and the ointment of his right hand which bewrayeth itself.  

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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 of it: so he that waiteth on his master shall be honored.  

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  As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man.  

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  Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.  

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  As the fining-pot for silver, and the furnace for gold; so is a man to his praise.  

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  Though thou shouldst bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet his foolishness will not depart from him.  

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  Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds.  

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  For riches are not for ever: and doth the crown endure to every generation?  

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  The plant appeareth, and the tender grass showeth itself, and herbs of the mountains are gathered.  

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  The lambs are for thy clothing, and the goats are the price of the field.  

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  And thou shalt have goats milk enough for thy food, for the food of thy household, and for maintenance for thy maidens.  

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