Proverbs 27:9-19

9 Oil and perfume make the heart glad, but the soul is torn by trouble.

10 Your friend, and your father's friend, do not forsake; and do not go to your brother's house in the day of your calamity. Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother who is far away.

11 Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad, that I may answer him who reproaches me.

12 A prudent man sees danger and hides himself; but the simple go on, and suffer for it.

13 Take a man's garment when he has given surety for a stranger, and hold him in pledge when he gives surety for foreigners.

14 He who blesses his neighbor with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, will be counted as cursing.

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

16 to restrain her is to restrain the wind or to grasp oil in his right hand.

17 Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.

18 He who tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and he who guards his master will be honored.

19 As in water face answers to face, so the mind of man reflects the man.

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.