Books of The Bible / Book of Proverbs
1 Do not congratulate yourself about tomorrow, since you do not know what today will bring forth.
2 Let someone else sing your praises, but not your own mouth, a stranger, but not your own lips.
3 Heavy is the stone, weighty is the sand; heavier than both — a grudge borne by a fool.
4 Cruel is wrath, overwhelming is anger; but jealousy, who can withstand that?
5 Better open reproof than feigned love.
6 Trustworthy are blows from a friend, deceitful are kisses from a foe.
7 The gorged throat revolts at honey, the hungry throat finds all bitterness sweet.
8 Like a bird that strays from its nest, so is anyone who strays away from home.
9 Oil and perfume gladden the heart, and the sweetness of friendship rather than self-reliance.
10 Do not give up your friend or your father’s friend; when trouble comes, do not go off to your brother’s house, better a near neighbour than a distant brother.
11 Learn to be wise, my child, and gladden my heart, that I may have an answer for anyone who insults me.
12 The discreet sees danger and takes shelter, simpletons go ahead and pay the penalty.
13 Take the man’s clothes! He has gone surety for a stranger. Take a pledge from him, for persons unknown.
14 Whoever at dawn loudly blesses his neighbour — it will be reckoned to him as a curse.
15 The dripping of a gutter on a rainy day and a quarrelsome woman are alike;
16 whoever can restrain her, can restrain the wind, and take a firm hold on grease.
17 Iron is sharpened by iron, one person is sharpened by contact with another.
18 Whoever tends the fig tree eats its figs, whoever looks after his master will be honoured.
19 As water reflects face back to face, so one human heart reflects another.
20 Sheol and Perdition are never satisfied, insatiable, too, are human eyes.
21 A furnace for silver, a foundry for gold: a person is worth what his reputation is worth.
22 Pound a fool in a mortar, among grain with a pestle, his folly will not leave him.
23 Know your flocks’ condition well, take good care of your herds;
24 for riches do not last for ever, crowns do not hand themselves on from age to age.
25 The grass once gone, the aftergrowth appearing, the hay gathered in from the mountains,
26 you should have lambs to clothe you, goats to buy you a field,
27 goat’s milk sufficient to feed you, to feed your household and provide for your serving girls.