Proverbs 27:9-19

9 The heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet as perfume and incense.

10 Never abandon a friend— either yours or your father’s. When disaster strikes, you won’t have to ask your brother for assistance. It’s better to go to a neighbor than to a brother who lives far away.

11 Be wise, my child, and make my heart glad. Then I will be able to answer my critics.

12 A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.

13 Get security from someone who guarantees a stranger’s debt. Get a deposit if he does it for foreigners.

14 A loud and cheerful greeting early in the morning will be taken as a curse!

15 A quarrelsome wife is as annoying as constant dripping on a rainy day.

16 Stopping her complaints is like trying to stop the wind or trying to hold something with greased hands.

17 As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.

18 As workers who tend a fig tree are allowed to eat the fruit, so workers who protect their employer’s interests will be rewarded.

19 As a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects the real person.

Proverbs 27:9-19 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]. Hebrew my son.
• [b]. As in Greek and Latin versions (see also 20:16 ); Hebrew reads for a promiscuous woman.