27:1  Do not boast about tomorrow,
for you do not know what a day may bring forth.

27:2  Let another praise you, and not your own mouth;
someone else, and not your own lips.

27:3  Stone is heavy and sand a burden,
but provocation by a fool is heavier than both.

27:4  Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming,
but who can stand before jealousy?

27:5  Better is open rebuke
than hidden love.

27:6  Wounds from a friend can be trusted,
but an enemy multiplies kisses.

27:7  He who is full loathes honey,
but to the hungry even what is bitter tastes sweet.

27:8  Like a bird that strays from its nest
is a man who strays from his home.

27:9  Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart,
and the pleasantness of one's friend springs from his earnest counsel.

27:10  Do not forsake your friend and the friend of your father,
and do not go to your brother's house when disaster strikes you—
better a neighbor nearby than a brother far away.

27:11  Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart;
then I can answer anyone who treats me with contempt.

27:12  The prudent see danger and take refuge,
but the simple keep going and suffer for it.

27:13  Take the garment of one who puts up security for a stranger;
hold it in pledge if he does it for a wayward woman.

27:14  If a man loudly blesses his neighbor early in the morning,
it will be taken as a curse.

27:15  A quarrelsome wife is like
a constant dripping on a rainy day;

27:16  restraining her is like restraining the wind
or grasping oil with the hand.

27:17  As iron sharpens iron,
so one man sharpens another.

27:18  He who tends a fig tree will eat its fruit,
and he who looks after his master will be honored.

27:19  As water reflects a face,
so a man's heart reflects the man.

27:20  Death and Destruction are never satisfied,
and neither are the eyes of man.

27:21  The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold,
but man is tested by the praise he receives.

27:22  Though you grind a fool in a mortar,
grinding him like grain with a pestle,
you will not remove his folly from him.

27:23  Be sure you know the condition of your flocks,
give careful attention to your herds;

27:24  for riches do not endure forever,
and a crown is not secure for all generations.

27:25  When the hay is removed and new growth appears
and the grass from the hills is gathered in,

27:26  the lambs will provide you with clothing,
and the goats with the price of a field.

27:27  You will have plenty of goats' milk
to feed you and your family
and to nourish your servant girls.