Proverbs 27

1 Don’t brag about tomorrow, since you don’t know what the day will bring.

2 Let someone else praise you, not your own mouth— a stranger, not your own lips.

3 A stone is heavy and sand is weighty, but the resentment caused by a fool is even heavier.

4 Anger is cruel, and wrath is like a flood, but jealousy is even more dangerous.

5 An open rebuke is better than hidden love!

6 Wounds from a sincere friend are better than many kisses from an enemy.

7 A person who is full refuses honey, but even bitter food tastes sweet to the hungry.

8 A person who strays from home is like a bird that strays from its nest.

9 The heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet as perfume and incense.

10 Never abandon a friend— either yours or your father’s. When disaster strikes, you won’t have to ask your brother for assistance. It’s better to go to a neighbor than to a brother who lives far away.

11 Be wise, my child, and make my heart glad. Then I will be able to answer my critics.

12 A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.

13 Get security from someone who guarantees a stranger’s debt. Get a deposit if he does it for foreigners.

14 A loud and cheerful greeting early in the morning will be taken as a curse!

15 A quarrelsome wife is as annoying as constant dripping on a rainy day.

16 Stopping her complaints is like trying to stop the wind or trying to hold something with greased hands.

17 As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.

18 As workers who tend a fig tree are allowed to eat the fruit, so workers who protect their employer’s interests will be rewarded.

19 As a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects the real person.

20 Just as Death and Destruction are never satisfied, so human desire is never satisfied.

21 Fire tests the purity of silver and gold, but a person is tested by being praised.

22 You cannot separate fools from their foolishness, even though you grind them like grain with mortar and pestle.

23 Know the state of your flocks, and put your heart into caring for your herds,

24 for riches don’t last forever, and the crown might not be passed to the next generation.

25 After the hay is harvested and the new crop appears and the mountain grasses are gathered in,

26 your sheep will provide wool for clothing, and your goats will provide the price of a field.

27 And you will have enough goats’ milk for yourself, your family, and your servant 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew my son.
• [b]. As in Greek and Latin versions (see also 20:16 ); Hebrew reads for a promiscuous woman.
• [c]. Hebrew Sheol and Abaddon.
• [d]. Or by flattery.

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.