Proverbs 27:13-23

13 Seize his clothes because he guaranteed a stranger's loan; take them as security for that unknown woman.

14 Whoever greets his neighbor in a loud voice at dawn might just as well have cursed him.

15 A leak that keeps dripping on a rainy day and the nagging of a wife are the same -

16 whoever can restrain her can restrain the wind or keep perfume on his hand from making itself known.

17 Just as iron sharpens iron, a person sharpens the character of his friend.

18 Whoever tends the fig tree will eat its fruit, and he who is attentive to his master will be honored.

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

20 Sh'ol and Abaddon are never satisfied, and human eyes are never satisfied.

21 The crucible [tests] silver, and the furnace [tests] gold, but a person [is tested] by [his reaction to] praise.

22 You can crush a fool in a mortar with a pestle, along with the grain being crushed; yet his foolishness will not leave him.

23 Take care to know the condition of your flocks, and pay attention to your herds.

Proverbs 27:13-23 Meaning and Commentary

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.