Proverbs 27 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

Pro 27:1

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

Pro 27:2

Pro 27:2Let another praise you, and not your own mouth;
a stranger, and not your own lips.

Pro 27:3

Pro 27:3A stone is heavy, and sand is weighty,
but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both.

Pro 27:4

Pro 27:4Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming,
but who can stand before jealousy?

Pro 27:5

Pro 27:5Better is open rebuke
than hidden love.

Pro 27:6

Pro 27:6Faithful are the wounds of a friend;
profuse are the kisses of an enemy.

Pro 27:7

Pro 27:7One who is full loathes honey,
but to one who is hungry everything bitter is sweet.

Pro 27:8

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

Pro 27:9

Pro 27:9Oil and perfume make the heart glad,
and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.[fn]

Pro 27:10

Pro 27:10Do not forsake your friend and your father’s friend,
and do not go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity.
Better is a neighbor who is near
than a brother who is far away.

Pro 27:11

Pro 27:11Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad,
that I may answer him who reproaches me.

Pro 27:12

Pro 27:12The prudent sees danger and hides himself,
but the simple go on and suffer for it.

Pro 27:13

Pro 27:13Take a man’s garment when he has put up security for a stranger,
and hold it in pledge when he puts up security for an adulteress.[fn]

Pro 27:14

Pro 27:14Whoever blesses his neighbor with a loud voice,
rising early in the morning,
will be counted as cursing.

Pro 27:15

Pro 27:15A continual dripping on a rainy day
and a quarrelsome wife are alike;

Pro 27:16

Pro 27:16to restrain her is to restrain the wind
or to grasp[fn] oil in one’s right hand.

Pro 27:17

Pro 27:17Iron sharpens iron,
and one man sharpens another.[fn]

Pro 27:18

Pro 27:18Whoever tends a fig tree will eat its fruit,
and he who guards his master will be honored.

Pro 27:19

Pro 27:19As in water face reflects face,
so the heart of man reflects the man.

Pro 27:20

Pro 27:20Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied,
and never satisfied are the eyes of man.

Pro 27:21

Pro 27:21The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,
and a man is tested by his praise.

Pro 27:22

Pro 27:22Crush a fool in a mortar with a pestle
along with crushed grain,
yet his folly will not depart from him.

Pro 27:23

Pro 27:23Know well the condition of your flocks,
and give attention to your herds,

Pro 27:24

Pro 27:24for riches do not last forever;
and does a crown endure to all generations?

Pro 27:25

Pro 27:25When the grass is gone and the new growth appears
and the vegetation of the mountains is gathered,

Pro 27:26

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

Pro 27:27

Pro 27:27There will be enough goats’ milk for your food,
for the food of your household
and maintenance for your girls.

See the ESV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

ESV Footnotes

(27:9)

Or and so does the sweetness of a friend that comes from his earnest counsel

(27:13)

Hebrew a foreign woman; a slight emendation yields (compare Vulgate; see also 20:16) foreigners

(27:16)

Hebrew to meet with

(27:17)

Hebrew sharpens the face of another

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For more information on this translation, see the ESV Preface.