Proverbs 27:10-20

10 Do not forsake your own friend or your father's friend, Nor go to your brother's house in the day of your calamity; Better is a neighbor nearby than a brother far away.

11 My son, be wise, and make my heart glad, That I may answer him who reproaches me.

12 A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself; The simple pass on and are punished.

13 Take the garment of him who is surety for a stranger, And hold it in pledge when he is surety for a seductress.

14 He who blesses his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, It will be counted a curse to him.

15 A continual dripping on a very rainy day And a contentious woman are alike;

16 Whoever restrains her restrains the wind, And grasps oil with his right hand.

17 As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.

18 Whoever keeps the fig tree will eat its fruit; So he who waits on his master will be honored.

19 As in water face reflects face, So a man's heart reveals the man.

20 Hell and Destruction are never full; So the eyes of man are never satisfied.

Proverbs 27:10-20 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.

Footnotes

• [a] Or Sheol
• [b] Hebrew Abaddon