Proverbs 27

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

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

3 A stone is heavy, and sand is weighty, but ³a fool's provocation is heavier than both.

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

5 ⁵Better is open rebuke than hidden love.

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

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

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

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

10 Do not forsake your friend and ¹⁰your father's friend, and do not go to your brother's house in the day of your calamity. ¹¹Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother who is far away.

11 ¹²Be wise, ¹³my son, and ¹⁴make my heart glad, that I may ¹⁵answer him who reproaches me.

12 ¹⁶The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but ¹⁷the simple go on and suffer for it.

13 ¹⁸Take 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.^[b]

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

15 ¹⁹A continual dripping on a rainy day and a quarrelsome wife are alike;

16 to restrain her is to restrain the wind or to grasp^[c] oil in one's right hand.

17 Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.^[d]

18 ²⁰Whoever tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and he who ²¹guards his master will be honored.

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

20 ²²Sheol and Abaddon are ²³never satisfied, and ²⁴never satisfied are the eyes of man.

21 ²⁵The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and a man is tested by his praise.

22 ²⁶Crush a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain, yet his folly will not depart from him.

23 ²⁷Know well the condition of your flocks, and ²⁸give attention to your herds,

24 for ²⁹riches do not last forever; and does a crown endure to all generations?

25 ³⁰When the grass is gone and the new growth appears and the vegetation of the mountains is gathered,

26 ³¹the lambs will provide your clothing, and the goats the price of a field.

27 ³²There will be enough goats' milk for your food, for the food of your household and maintenance for your girls.

Proverbs 27 Commentary

Chapter 27

Verse 1 We know not what a day may bring forth. This does not forbid preparing for to-morrow, but presuming upon to-morrow. We must not put off the great work of conversion, that one thing needful. Verse 2 . There may be occasion for us to justify ourselves, ( proverbs 27:3-4 ) ( proverbs 27:5-6 ) rebukes are better, not only than secret hatred, but than love which compliments in sin, to the hurt of the soul. Verse 7 . The poor have a better relish of their enjoyments, and are often more thankful for them, than the rich. In like manner the proud and self-sufficient disdain the gospel; but those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, find comfort from the meanest book or sermon that testifies of Christ Jesus. Verse 8 . Every man has his proper place in society, where he may be safe and comfortable. ( proverbs 27:9-10 ) kindred's sake; apply to those who are at hand, and will help in need. But there is a Friend that sticketh closer than a brother, and let us place entire confidence in him. Verse 11 . An affectionate parent urges his son to prudent conduct that should gladden his heart. The good conduct of Christians is the best answer to all who find fault with the gospel. Verse 12 . Where there is temptation, if we thrust ourselves into it, there will be sin, and punishment will follow. Verse 13 . An honest man may be made a beggar, but he is not honest that makes himself one. Verse 14 . It is folly to be fond of being praised; it is a temptation to pride. ( proverbs 27:15-16 ) shower, troublesome for a time; the contentions of a wife are like constant rain. Verse 17 . We are cautioned to take heed whom we converse with. And directed to have in view, in conversation, to make one another wiser and better. Verse 18 . Though a calling be laborious and despised, yet those who keep to it, will find there is something to be got by it. God is a Master who has engaged to honour those who serve him faithfully. Verse 19 . One corrupt heart is like another; so are sanctified hearts: the former bear the same image of the earthly, the latter the same image of the heavenly. Let us carefully watch our own hearts, comparing them with the word of God. Verse 20 . Two things are here said to be never satisfied, death and sin. The appetites of the carnal mind for profit or pleasure are always desiring more. Those whose eyes are ever toward the Lord, are satisfied in him, and shall for ever be so. Verse 21 . Silver and gold are tried by putting them into the furnace and fining-pot; so is a man tried by praising him. Verse 22 . Some are so bad, that even severe methods do not answer the end; what remains but that they should be rejected? The new-creating power of God's grace alone is able to make a change. ( 23-27 ) . We ought to have some business to do in this world, and not to live in idleness, and not to meddle with what we do not understand. We must be diligent and take pains. Let us do what we can, still the world cannot be secured to us, therefore we must choose a more lasting portion; but by the blessing of God upon our honest labours, we may expect to enjoy as much of earthly blessings as is good for us.

Cross References

• 1. Luke 12:19, 20; James 4:13, 14
• 2. 2 Corinthians 10:12, 18; [Proverbs 25:27; 2 Corinthians 12:11]
• 3. [Proverbs 12:16; Proverbs 17:12]
• 4. Proverbs 6:34
• 5. [Proverbs 28:23]
• 6. Psalms 141:5
• 7. [Proverbs 25:16]
• 8. Proverbs 26:2
• 9. [Psalms 23:5]
• 10. See 1 Kings 12:6-8; 2 Chronicles 10:6-8
• 11. See Proverbs 17:17
• 12. Proverbs 6:6
• 13. Proverbs 10:1; Proverbs 23:15, 24
• 14. See Proverbs 29:3
• 15. Psalms 119:42; [Psalms 127:5]
• 16. Proverbs 22:3
• 17. See Proverbs 1:4
• 18. See Proverbs 20:16
• 19. Proverbs 19:13
• 20. Song of Songs 8:12; 1 Corinthians 3:8; 1 Corinthians 9:7; 2 Timothy 2:6
• 21. [Matthew 25:21]
• 22. Proverbs 15:11; See Job 26:6
• 23. Proverbs 30:15, 16; Habakkuk 2:5; [Proverbs 1:12]
• 24. Ecclesiastes 1:8; Ecclesiastes 4:8
• 25. Proverbs 17:3
• 26. [Proverbs 23:35; Isaiah 1:5; Jeremiah 5:3]
• 27. [John 10:3, 14; Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 5:2, 4]
• 28. [John 10:3, 14; Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 5:2, 4]
• 29. Proverbs 23:5
• 30. Psalms 37:2; Psalms 90:5, 6
• 31. [1 Timothy 6:8]
• 32. [See ver. 26 above]

Footnotes

• [a]. Or and so does the sweetness of a friend that comes from his earnest counsel
• [b]. Hebrew a foreign woman; a slight emendation yields (compare Vulgate; see also 20:16) foreigners
• [c]. Hebrew to meet with
• [d]. Hebrew sharpens the face of another

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO 1 KINGS 14

This chapter relates the sickness of Jeroboam's son, the application of his wife, at his instance, to the prophet Ahijah, in the child's favour, 1Ki 14:1-6, the prophecy of the prophet concerning the ruin of Jeroboam's house, and the death of the child, which came to pass, 1Ki 14:7-18, an account of the years of Jeroboam's reign, and also of Rehoboam's, 1Ki 14:19-21, and of the evil things done and suffered by the latter in his kingdom, and the calamities that came upon him for it, 1Ki 14:22-28 and the conclusion of his reign, 1Ki 14:29-31.