¹ Do not boast about tomorrow,
For you do not know what a day may bring forth.
² Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth;
A stranger, and not your own lips.
³ A stone is heavy and sand is weighty,
But a fool’s wrath is heavier than both of them.
⁴ Wrath is cruel and anger a torrent,
But who is able to stand before jealousy?
⁵ Open rebuke is better
Than love carefully concealed.
⁶ Faithful are the wounds of a friend,
But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.
⁷ A satisfied soul loathes the honeycomb,
But to a hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.
⁸ Like a bird that wanders from its nest
Is a man who wanders from his place.
⁹ Ointment and perfume delight the heart,
And the sweetness of a man’s friend gives delight by hearty counsel.
¹⁰ Do not forsake your own friend or your father’s friend,
Nor go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity;
Better is a neighbor nearby than a brother far away.
¹¹ My son, be wise, and make my heart glad,
That I may answer him who reproaches me.
¹² A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself;
The simple pass on and are punished.
¹³ Take the garment of him who is surety for a stranger,
And hold it in pledge when he is surety for a seductress.
¹⁴ He who blesses his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning,
It will be counted a curse to him.
¹⁵ A continual dripping on a very rainy day
And a contentious woman are alike;
¹⁶ Whoever restrains her restrains the wind,
And grasps oil with his right hand.
¹⁷ As iron sharpens iron,
So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.
¹⁸ Whoever keeps the fig tree will eat its fruit;
So he who waits on his master will be honored.
¹⁹ As in water face reflects face,
So a man’s heart reveals the man.
²⁰ Hell²¹ The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold,
And a man is valued by what others say of him.
²² Though you grind a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain,
Yet his foolishness will not depart from him.
²³ Be diligent to know the state of your flocks,
And attend to your herds;
²⁴ For riches are not forever,
Nor does a crown endure to all generations.
²⁵ When the hay is removed, and the tender grass shows itself,
And the herbs of the mountains are gathered in,
²⁶ The lambs will provide your clothing,
And the goats the price of a field;
²⁷ You shall have enough goats’ milk for your food,
For the food of your household,
And the nourishment of your maidservants.