¹Do not boast about tomorrow,

for you do not 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 weighty,

but the wrath of a fool is heavier than both.

⁴Wrath is cruel and fury is a torrent,

but who is able to stand before envy?

⁵Better is open rebuke[#Pr 28:23; Gal 2:14]

than hidden love.

⁶Faithful are the wounds of a friend,[#Ps 141:5]

but deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.

⁷A full soul loathes honey,

but to a hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.

⁸Like a bird that strays from her nest,[#Isa 16:2]

so is a man who strays from his home.

⁹Ointment and perfume make the heart glad;

so the sweetness of a man’s friend brings joy by hearty counsel.

¹⁰Your own friend and the friend of your father, forsake not,[#1Ki 12:6–8]

nor go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity;

better is a neighbor who is near than a brother far away.

¹¹My son, be wise, and make my heart glad,[#Pr 10:1]

that I may answer my accusers.

¹²A prudent man sees evil and hides himself,

but the simple pass on, and are punished.

¹³Take the garment of him who has put up security for a stranger;

seize the pledge when he puts up security for an adulteress.

¹⁴He who blesses his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning,

it will be counted a curse to him.

¹⁵A continual dripping on a rainy day

and a contentious wife are alike;

¹⁶to restrain her is like restraining the wind,

or like grasping oil in the right hand.

¹⁷Iron sharpens iron;

so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.

¹⁸He who tends the fig tree will eat its fruit;[#SS 8:12; 1Co 9:7]

so he who waits on his master will be honored.

¹⁹As in water face reflects face,

so the heart of man reflects the man.

²⁰Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied;[#Pr 30:15–16]

so the eyes of man are never satisfied.

²¹The crucible is for silver, and the furnace for gold,[#Pr 17:3]

but a man is tested by his praise.

²²Though you grind a fool in the mortar

with a pestle along with grain,

yet his folly will not depart from him.

²³Know well the condition of your flocks,

and carefully attend to your herds,

²⁴for riches do not last forever,[#Pr 23:5]

nor does a crown endure to all generations.

²⁵When the hay is removed, and the tender grass appears,

and herbs of the mountains are gathered,

²⁶the lambs will provide your clothing,

and the goats the price of a field;

²⁷you will have enough goats’ milk for your food,

for the food of your household,

and nourishment for your servant girls.