The Holy Bible: Revised Common Version

1  Do not boast yourself of 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 the sand weighty,/
but a fool's wrath is heavier than 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 loathes a honey-comb,/
but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.

8  As a bird that wanders from her nest,/
so is a man who wanders from his place.

9  Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart,/
and so does the sweetness of a man's friend by hearty counsel.

10 Your own friend and your father's friend, do not forsake,/
neither go into your brother's house in the day of your calamity,/
for better is a neighbor who is near than a brother far off.

11 My son, be wise, and make my heart glad,/
so that I may answer him who reproaches me.

12 A prudent man foresees the evil and hides 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 who blesses his friend with a loud voice,/
rising early in the morning,/
it shall be counted a curse to him.

15 A continual dropping on a very rainy day/
and a contentious woman are alike.

16 Whoever hides her has hidden the wind/
and has grasped ointment with his right hand.

17 As iron sharpens iron,/
so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.

18 He who keeps the fig-tree shall eat its fruit,/
and he who guards his master shall be honored.

19 As in water face reflects face,/
so the heart of man to man.

20 Hell and destruction are never full,/
and the eyes of man are never satisfied.

21 As the refining-pot for silver and the furnace for gold,/
so is a man to his praise.

22 Though you should bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle,/
yet his foolishness will not depart from him.

23 Be diligent to know the state of your flocks,/
and look well to your herds,

24 For riches are not forever./
And does the crown endure to every generation?

25 When the grass is removed, and the tender grass shows itself,/
and herbs of the mountains are gathered,

26 The lambs will be for your clothing,/
and the goats the price of a field.

27 And you shall have enough goats' milk for your food,/
for the food of your household,/
and for sustenance for your young women.