• Warnings and Instructions

  • 1 Do not boast about tomorrow, For you do not know what a day may bring.
  • 2 Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; A stranger, and not your own lips.
  • 3 A stone is heavy and the sand weighty, But the provocation of a fool is heavier than both of them.
  • 4 Wrath is fierce and anger is a flood, But who can stand before jealousy?
  • 5 Better is open rebuke Than love that is concealed.
  • 6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.
  • 7 A satisfied person despises honey, But to a hungry person any bitter thing is sweet.
  • 8 Like a bird that wanders from its nest, So is a person who wanders from his home.
  • 9 Oil and perfume make the heart glad, And a person’s advice is sweet to his friend.
  • 10 Do not abandon your friend or your father’s friend, And do not go to your brother’s house on the day of your disaster; Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother far away.
  • 11 Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad, So that I may reply to one who taunts me.
  • 12 A prudent person sees evil and hides himself; But the naive proceed, and pay the penalty.
  • 13 Take his garment when he becomes a guarantor for a stranger; And for a foreign woman seize a pledge from him.
  • 14 One who blesses his friend with a loud voice early in the morning, It will be considered a curse to him.
  • 15 A constant dripping on a day of steady rain And a contentious woman are alike;
  • 16 He who would restrain her restrains the wind, And grasps oil with his right hand.
  • 17 As iron sharpens iron, So one person sharpens another.
  • 18 One who tends the fig tree will eat its fruit, And one who cares for his master will be honored.
  • 19 As in water a face reflects the face, So the heart of a person reflects the person.
  • 20 Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, Nor are the eyes of a person ever satisfied.
  • 21 The crucible is for silver and the furnace for gold, And each is tested by the praise accorded him.
  • 22 Though you pound the fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain, His foolishness still will not leave him.
  • 23 Know well the condition of your flocks, And pay attention to your herds;
  • 24 For riches are not forever, Nor does a crown endure to all generations.
  • 25 When the grass disappears, the new growth is seen, And the herbs of the mountains are gathered in,
  • 26 The lambs will be for your clothing, And the goats will bring the price of a field,
  • 27 And there will be enough goats’ milk for your food, For the food of your household, And sustenance for your attendants.