[1] BOAST not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.
[2] Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips.
[3] A stone is heavy, and the sand weighty; but a fool’s wrath is heavier than them both.
[4] Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?
[5] Open rebuke is better than secret love.
[6] Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.
[7] The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.
[8] As a bird that wandereth from her nest, so is a man that wandereth from his place.
[9] Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man’s friend by hearty counsel.
[10] Thine 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 neighbour that is near than a brother far off.
[11] My son, be wise, and make my heart glad, that I may answer him that reproacheth me.
[12] A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished.
[13] Take his garment that is surety for a stranger, and take a pledge of him for a strange woman.
[14] He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, it shall be counted a curse to him.
[15] A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike.
[16] Whosoever hideth her hideth the wind, and the ointment of his right hand, which bewrayeth itself.
[17] Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.
[18] Whoso keepeth the fig tree shall eat the fruit thereof: so he that waiteth on his master shall be honoured.
[19] As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man.
[20] Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.
[21] As the fining pot for silver, and the furnace for gold; so is a man to his praise.
[22] Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him.
[23] Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds.
[24] For riches are not for ever: and doth the crown endure to every generation?
[25] The hay appeareth, and the tender grass sheweth itself, and herbs of the mountains are gathered.
[26] The lambs are for thy clothing, and the goats are the price of the field.
[27] And thou shalt have goats’ milk enough for thy food, for the food of thy household, and for the maintenance for thy maidens.
