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27Do not boast about tomorrow,
   for you do not know what a day may bring.
² Let another praise you, and not your own mouth—
   a stranger, and not your own lips.
³ A stone is heavy, and sand is weighty,
   but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both.
⁴ Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming,
   but who is able to stand before jealousy?
⁵ Better is open rebuke
   than hidden love.
⁶ Well meant are the wounds a friend inflicts,
   but profuse are the kisses of an enemy.
⁷ The sated appetite spurns honey,
   but to a ravenous appetite even the bitter is sweet.
⁸ Like a bird that strays from its nest
   is one who strays from home.
⁹ Perfume and incense make the heart glad,
   but the soul is torn by trouble.^*
10 Do not forsake your friend or the friend of your parent;
   do not go to the house of your kindred on the day of your calamity.
Better is a neighbour who is nearby
   than kindred who are far away.
¹¹ Be wise, my child, and make my heart glad,
   so that I may answer whoever reproaches me.
¹² The clever see danger and hide;
   but the simple go on, and suffer for it.
¹³ Take the garment of one who has given surety for a stranger;
   seize the pledge given as surety for foreigners.^*
14 Whoever blesses a neighbour 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 wife are alike;
¹⁶ to restrain her is to restrain the wind
   or to grasp oil in the right hand.^*
17 Iron sharpens iron,
   and one person sharpens the wits^* of another.
¹⁸ Anyone who tends a fig tree will eat its fruit,
   and anyone who takes care of a master will be honoured.
¹⁹ Just as water reflects the face,
   so one human heart reflects another.
²⁰ Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied,
   and human eyes are never satisfied.
²¹ The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,
   so a person is tested^* by being praised.
²² Crush a fool in a mortar with a pestle
   along with crushed grain,
   but the folly will not be driven out.

²³ Know well the condition of your flocks,
   and give attention to your herds;
²⁴ for riches do not last for ever,
   nor a crown for all generations.
²⁵ When the grass is gone, and new growth appears,
   and the herbage of the mountains is gathered,
²⁶ the lambs will provide your clothing,
   and the goats the price of a field;
²⁷ there will be enough goats’ milk for your food,
   for the food of your household
   and nourishment for your servant-girls.