Old Testament

Proverbs 27

Counsel on Conduct and Care

12 passages

Overview

Drawing on images from friendship, farming, desire, and daily life, the sage offers a wide-ranging collection of proverbs urging humility before God, honest and loyal relationships, prudent retreat from danger, and faithful stewardship of what has been entrusted to one's care.

Passages

1–2Dust and Praise: The Folly of Boasting 3–4The Unbearable Weight of Folly and Jealousy 5–6The Wounds That Heal: On Honest Rebuke and True Friendship 7–8Hunger, Satisfaction, and the Danger of Wandering 9–10The Sweetness of Friendship and Loyalty to Companions 11–12Wisdom as Prudence: The Sage Son and the Shrewd Man 13–14Cautions Against Reckless Surety and Empty Flattery 15–16The Quarrelsome Woman: An Unstoppable Irritant 17–18Iron, Fig Tree, and the Fellowship of Formation 19–21The Mirror of the Heart: Self-Knowledge, Insatiable Desire, and the Purifying Test 22The Incorrigibility of the Fool 23–27The Wisdom of Pastoral Stewardship and Providence

Study Resources

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Proverbs 27

¹Don’t boast about tomorrow; for you don’t know what a day may bring.

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

³A stone is heavy, and sand is a burden; but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both.

⁴Wrath is cruel, and anger is overwhelming; but who is able to stand before jealousy?

⁵Better is open rebuke than hidden love.

⁶The wounds of a friend are faithful, although the kisses of an enemy are profuse.

⁷A full soul loathes a honeycomb; but to a hungry soul, every bitter thing is sweet.

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

⁹Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart; so does earnest counsel from a man’s friend.

¹⁰Don’t forsake your friend and your father’s friend. Don’t go to your brother’s house in the day of your disaster. A neighbor who is near is better than a distant brother.

¹¹Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart, then I can answer my tormentor.

¹²A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge; but the simple pass on, and suffer for it.

¹³Take his garment when he puts up collateral for a stranger. Hold it for a wayward woman!

¹⁴He who blesses his neighbor with a loud voice early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse by him.

¹⁵A continual dropping on a rainy day and a contentious wife are alike:

¹⁶restraining her is like restraining the wind, or like grasping oil in his right hand.

¹⁷Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens his friend’s countenance.

¹⁸Whoever tends the fig tree shall eat its fruit. He who looks after his master shall be honored.

¹⁹Like water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man.

²⁰Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied; and a man’s eyes are never satisfied.

²¹The crucible is for silver, and the furnace for gold; but man is refined by his praise.

²²Though you grind a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with grain, yet his foolishness will not be removed from him.

²³Know well the state of your flocks, and pay attention to your herds,

²⁴for riches are not forever, nor does the crown endure to all generations.

²⁵The hay is removed, and the new growth appears, the grasses of the hills are gathered in.

²⁶The lambs are for your clothing, and the goats are the price of a field.

²⁷There will be plenty of goats’ milk for your food, for your family’s food, and for the nourishment of your servant girls.

Proverbs 26 Proverbs 28