✧1Boast not thyself of to-morrow; For thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. ✧2Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; A stranger, and not thine own lips. ✧3A stone is heavy, and the sand weighty; But a fool’s vexation is heavier than they both. ✧4Wrath is cruel, and anger is overwhelming; But who is able to stand before jealousy? ✧5Better is open rebuke Than love that is hidden. ✧6Faithful are the wounds of a friend; But the kisses of an enemy are profuse. ✧7The full soul loatheth a honeycomb; But to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet. ✧8As a bird that wandereth from her nest, So is a man that wandereth from his place. ✧9
American Standard Version (ASV). American Standard Version (1901). Public domain.
Oil and perfume rejoice the heart; So doth the sweetness of a man’s friend [that cometh] of hearty counsel.
✧10Thine own friend, and thy father’s friend, forsake not; And go not to thy brother’s house in the day of thy calamity: Better is a neighbor that is near than a brother far off.
✧11My son, be wise, and make my heart glad, That I may answer him that reproacheth me.
✧12A prudent man seeth the evil, [and] hideth himself; [But] the simple pass on, [and] suffer for it.
✧13Take his garment that is surety for a stranger; And hold him in pledge [that is surety] for a foreign woman.
✧14He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, It shall be counted a curse to him.
✧15A continual dropping in a very rainy day And a contentious woman are alike:
✧16He that would restrain her restraineth the wind; And his right hand encountereth oil.
✧17Iron sharpeneth iron; So a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.
✧18Whoso keepeth the fig-tree shall eat the fruit thereof; And he that regardeth his master shall be honored.
✧19As in water face [answereth] to face, So the heart of man to man.
✧20Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied; And the eyes of man are never satisfied.
✧21The refining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold; And a man is [tried] by his praise.
✧22Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with bruised grain, Yet will not his foolishness depart from him.
✧23Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, [And] look well to thy herds:
✧24For riches are not for ever; And doth the crown endure unto all generations?
✧25The hay is carried, and the tender grass showeth itself, And the herbs of the mountains are gathered in.
✧26The lambs are for thy clothing, And the goats are the price of the field;
✧27And [there will be] goats’ milk enough for thy food, for the food of thy household, And maintenance for thy maidens.