Proverbs 27

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

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

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

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

5 Better is open rebuke than hidden love.

6 Well meant are the wounds a friend inflicts, but profuse are the kisses of an enemy.

7 The sated appetite spurns honey, but to a ravenous appetite even the bitter is sweet.

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

9 Perfume and incense make the heart glad, but the soul is torn by trouble.

10 Do not forsake your friend or the friend of your parent; do not go to the house of your kindred in the day of your calamity. Better is a neighbor who is nearby than kindred who are far away.

11 Be wise, my child, and make my heart glad, so that I may answer whoever reproaches me.

12 The clever see danger and hide; but the simple go on, and suffer for it.

13 Take the garment of one who has given surety for a stranger; seize the pledge given as surety for foreigners.

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

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

16 to restrain her is to restrain the wind or to grasp oil in the right hand.

17 Iron sharpens iron, and one person sharpens the wits of another.

18 Anyone who tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and anyone who takes care of a master will be honored.

19 Just as water reflects the face, so one human heart reflects another.

20 Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, and human eyes are never satisfied.

21 The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, so a person is tested by being praised.

22 Crush a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain, but the folly will not be driven out.

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

24 for riches do not last forever, nor a crown for all generations.

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

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

27 there will be enough goats' milk for your food, for the food of your household and nourishment for 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]. Gk: Heb [the sweetness of a friend is better than one's own counsel]
• [b]. Vg and 20.16: Heb [for a foreign woman]
• [c]. Meaning of Heb uncertain
• [d]. Heb [face]
• [e]. Heb lacks [is tested]

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.