1 ¶ Boast not thyself of tomorrow for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.

2 ¶ Let another man praise thee and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips.

3 ¶ A stone is heavy and the sand weighty; but a fool’s wrath is heavier than them both.

4 W rath is cruel, and anger is impetuous, but who is able to stand before envy?

5 ¶ Open rebuke is better than secret love.

6 F aithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.

7 ¶ The full soul loathes a honeycomb, but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.

8 ¶ As a bird that wanders from her nest, so is a man that wanders from his place.

9 ¶ Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart, so does the sweetness of a man’s friend by hearty counsel.

10 D o not forsake thine own friend and thy father’s friend, neither go into thy brother’s house in the day of thy calamity, for better is a neighbour that is near than a brother far off.

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

12 ¶ A prudent man foresees the evil and hides himself, but the simple pass on and are hurt by it.

13 ¶ Take his garment that is surety for a stranger and take a pledge of him that is surety for a strange woman.

14 ¶ He that blesses his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, it shall be counted a curse to him.

15 ¶ A continual dripping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike.

16 W hosoever hides her hides the wind, because the oil in his right hand cries out.

17 ¶ Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.

18 ¶ Whosoever keeps the fig tree shall eat the fruit thereof, so he that waits on his master shall be honoured.

19 ¶ As in water face corresponds to face, so the heart of man to man.

20 ¶ Sheol and hell are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.

21 ¶ As the fining pot tries the silver and the furnace the gold; so the man is tried by the mouth of whoever praises him.

22 ¶ Though thou should bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet his foolishness will not depart from him.

23 ¶ Be thou diligent to know the countenance of thy sheep, and put thy heart into thy herds.

24 F or riches are not for ever, and does the crown endure to every generation?

25 T he tender grass shows itself, and the hay appears, and the herbs of the mountains are reaped.

26 T he lambs are for thy clothing, and the goats are for the price of the field.

27 A nd thou shalt have goats’ milk enough for thy food, for the food of thy household, and for the maintenance of thy maidens.