Proverbs 27

1 Don't brag about tomorrow, for you don't know what a day will bring.

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

3 A stone is heavy and sand weighs much, but the nuisance of fools is heavier than both.

4 Wrath is cruel and anger is a flood, but who can withstand jealousy?

5 A public correction is better than hidden love.

6 Trustworthy are the bruises of a friend; excessive are the kisses of an enemy.

7 Someone who is full refuses honey, but anything bitter tastes sweet to a hungry person.

8 Like a bird wandering from its nest, so is one who wanders from home.

9 Oil and incense make the heart glad, and the sweetness of friends comes from their advice.

10 Don't desert your friend or a friend of your family; don't go to your relative's house when disaster strikes. Better a neighbor nearby than a relative far away.

11 Be wise, my child, and make my heart glad, so I can answer those who insult me.

12 Prudent people see evil and hide; the simpleminded go right to it and get punished.

13 Take the garment of the person who secures a loan for a stranger; take his pledge for a foreigner.

14 Greeting a neighbor with a loud voice early in the morning will be viewed as a curse.

15 The constant dripping on a rainy day and a contentious woman are alike;

16 anyone who can control her can control the wind or pick up oil in his hand.

17 As iron sharpens iron, so friends sharpen each other's faces.

18 Those who tend a fig tree will eat its fruit, and those who look after their master will be honored.

19 As water reflects the face, so the heart reflects one person to another.

20 The grave and the underworld are never satisfied; and people's eyes are never satisfied.

21 A crucible is for silver and a furnace for gold, so are people in the presence of someone who praises them.

22 Even if you grind fools in a mortar, even grinding them along with the grain, their folly won't be driven from them.

23 Know your flock well; pay attention to your herds,

24 for no treasure lasts forever, nor a crown generation after generation.

25 When the grass goes away, new growth appears, and the plants of the hills are gathered,

26 then the lambs will provide your clothes, and the goats will be the price of your fields.

27 There will be enough goat's milk for your food, for the food of your house, and to nourish your young women.

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]. Heb uncertain
• [b]. Heb Sheol
• [c]. Heb Abaddon

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.