Chapter 27

Boast not thyself of to-morrow, For thou knowest not what a day bringeth forth.

Let another praise thee, and not thine own mouth, A stranger, and not thine own lips.

A stone [is] heavy, and the sand [is] heavy, And the anger of a fool Is heavier than they both.

Fury [is] fierce, and anger [is] overflowing, And who standeth before jealousy?

Better [is] open reproof than hidden love.

Faithful are the wounds of a lover, And abundant the kisses of an enemy.

A satiated soul treadeth down a honeycomb, And [to] a hungry soul every bitter thing [is] sweet.

As a bird wandering from her nest, So [is] a man wandering from his place.

Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart, And the sweetness of one's friend -- from counsel of the soul.

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.

Be wise, my son, and rejoice my heart. And I return my reproacher a word.

The prudent hath seen the evil, he is hidden, The simple have passed on, they are punished.

Take his garment, when a stranger hath been surety, And for a strange woman pledge it.

Whoso is saluting his friend with a loud voice, In the morning rising early, A light thing it is reckoned to him.

A continual dropping in a day of rain, And a woman of contentions are alike,

Whoso is hiding her hath hidden the wind, And the ointment of his right hand calleth out.

Iron by iron is sharpened, And a man sharpens the face of his friend.

The keeper of a fig-tree eateth its fruit, And the preserver of his master is honoured.

As [in] water the face [is] to face, So the heart of man to man.

Sheol and destruction are not satisfied, And the eyes of man are not satisfied.

A refining pot [is] for silver, and a furnace for gold, And a man according to his praise.

If thou dost beat the foolish in a mortar, Among washed things -- with a pestle, His folly turneth not aside from off him.

Know well the face of thy flock, Set thy heart to the droves,

For riches [are] not to the age, Nor a crown to generation and generation.

Revealed was the hay, and seen the tender grass, And gathered the herbs of mountains.

Lambs [are] for thy clothing, And the price of the field [are] he-goats,

And a sufficiency of goats' milk [is] for thy bread, For bread to thy house, and life to thy damsels!