Proverbs 27

1 Don't boast about tomorrow, for you don't know what the day may bring.

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

3 Stone is heavy and sand a dead weight, but a fool's provocation outweighs them both.

4 Fury is cruel and anger overwhelming, but who can stand up to jealousy?

5 Better open rebuke than hidden love.

6 Wounds from a friend are received as well-meant, but an enemy's kisses are insincere.

7 A person who is full loathes a honeycomb; but to the hungry, any bitter thing is sweet.

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

9 Perfume and incense make the heart glad, [also] friendship sweet with advice from the heart.

10 Don't abandon a friend who is also a friend of your father. Don't enter your brother's house on the day of your calamity -better a neighbor nearby than a brother far away.

11 My son, become wise, and gladden my heart, so that I can answer my critics.

12 The clever see trouble coming and hide; the thoughtless go on and pay the penalty.

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.

24 For wealth doesn't last forever, neither does a crown through all generations.

25 When the hay has been mown, and the new grass appears, and the mountain greens have been gathered;

26 the lambs will provide your clothing, the goats will sell for enough to buy a field,

27 and there will be enough goat's milk to [buy] food for you and your household and maintenance 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.

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.