Proverbs · Catholic Public Domain Version
Proverbs 27 Catholic Public Domain Version
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Notes on this text (3)
- Esther and Daniel are the Vulgate books (Esther 1–16 with the Greek additions as chapters 10:4–16; Daniel 1–14 with the Song of the Three, Susanna and Bel). Baruch 6 is the Letter of Jeremiah.
- The translator's footnotes, cross-references, chapter summaries and book introductions in the CrossWire module are not shown.
- No imprimatur; single translator.
1 Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what the future day may bring.
1 Don’t boast about tomorrow; for you don’t know what a day may bring.
2 Let another praise you, and not your own mouth: an outsider, and not your own lips.
2 Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.
3 A stone is weighty, and sand is burdensome; but the wrath of the foolish is heavier than both.
3 A stone is heavy, and sand is a burden; but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both.
4 Anger holds no mercy, nor does fury when it erupts. And who can bear the assault of one who has been provoked?
4 Wrath is cruel, and anger is overwhelming; but who is able to stand before jealousy?
5 An open rebuke is better than hidden love.
5 Better is open rebuke than hidden love.
6 The wounds of a loved one are better than the deceitful kisses of a hateful one.
6 The wounds of a friend are faithful, although the kisses of an enemy are profuse.
7 A sated soul will trample the honeycomb. And a hungry soul will accept even bitter in place of sweet.
7 A full soul loathes a honeycomb; but to a hungry soul, every bitter thing is sweet.
8 Just like a bird migrating from her nest, so also is a man who abandons his place.
8 As a bird that wanders from her nest, so is a man who wanders from his home.
9 Ointment and various perfumes delight the heart. And the good advice of a friend is sweet to the soul.
9 Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart; so does earnest counsel from a man’s friend.
10 Do not dismiss your friend or your father’s friend. And do not enter your brother’s house in the day of your affliction. A close neighbor is better than a distant brother.
10 Don’t forsake your friend and your father’s friend. Don’t go to your brother’s house in the day of your disaster. A neighbor who is near is better than a distant brother.
11 My son, study wisdom, and rejoice my heart, so that you may be able to respond to the one who reproaches.
11 Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart, then I can answer my tormentor.
12 The discerning man, seeing evil, hides himself. The little ones, continuing on, sustain losses.
12 A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge; but the simple pass on, and suffer for it.
13 Take away the garment of him who has vouched for an outsider. And take a pledge from him on behalf of foreigners.
13 Take his garment when he puts up collateral for a stranger. Hold it for a wayward woman!
14 Whoever blesses his neighbor with a grand voice, rising in the night, shall be like one who curses.
14 He who blesses his neighbor with a loud voice early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse by him.
15 A roof leaking on a cold day, and an argumentative woman, are comparable.
15 A continual dropping on a rainy day and a contentious wife are alike:
16 He who would restrain her, he is like one who would grasp the wind, or who would gather together oil with his right hand.
16 restraining her is like restraining the wind, or like grasping oil in his right hand.
17 Iron sharpens iron, and a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.
17 Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens his friend’s countenance.
18 Whoever maintains the fig tree shall eat its fruit. And whoever is the keeper of his master shall be glorified.
18 Whoever tends the fig tree shall eat its fruit. He who looks after his master shall be honored.
19 In the manner of faces looking into shining water, so are the hearts of men made manifest to the prudent.
19 Like water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man.
20 Hell and perdition are never filled; similarly the eyes of men are insatiable.
20 Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied; and a man’s eyes are never satisfied.
21 In the manner of silver being tested in the refinery, and gold in the furnace, so also is a man tested by the mouth of one who praises. The heart of the iniquitous inquires after evils, but the heart of the righteous inquires after knowledge.
21 The crucible is for silver, and the furnace for gold; but man is refined by his praise.
22 Even if you were to crush the foolish with a mortar, as when a pestle strikes over pearled barley, his foolishness would not be taken from him.
22 Though you grind a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with grain, yet his foolishness will not be removed from him.
23 Be diligent to know the countenance of your cattle, and consider your own flocks,
23 Know well the state of your flocks, and pay attention to your herds,
24 for you will not always hold this power. But a crown shall be awarded from generation to generation.
24 for riches are not forever, nor does the crown endure to all generations.
25 The meadows are open, and the green plants have appeared, and the hay has been collected from the mountains.
25 The hay is removed, and the new growth appears, the grasses of the hills are gathered in.
26 Lambs are for your clothing, and goats are for the price of a field.
26 The lambs are for your clothing, and the goats are the price of a field.
27 Let the milk of goats be sufficient for your food, and for the necessities of your household, and for the provisions of your handmaids.
27 There will be plenty of goats’ milk for your food, for your family’s food, and for the nourishment of your servant girls.
Cross references (27)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 James 4:13–16; Luke 12:19–20; 2 Corinthians 6:2; Isaiah 56:12; 1 Samuel 28:19
- 2 2 Corinthians 10:18; Proverbs 25:27; 2 Corinthians 10:12; 2 Corinthians 12:11
- 3 Daniel 3:19; 1 John 3:12; Proverbs 17:12; Genesis 49:7; 1 Samuel 22:18–19
- 4 Proverbs 6:34; Proverbs 14:30; James 3:14–16; Job 5:2; Matthew 27:18
- 5 Proverbs 28:23; 1 Timothy 5:20; Galatians 2:14; Matthew 18:15; Leviticus 19:17
- 6 Psalm 141:5; Revelation 3:19; Job 5:17–18; Proverbs 26:23–26; 2 Samuel 12:7–15
- 7 Luke 15:16–17; Numbers 21:5; Numbers 11:18–20; Numbers 11:4–9; John 6:9
- 8 Proverbs 21:16; Isaiah 16:2; Jonah 1:3; 1 Corinthians 7:20; Jonah 1:10–17
- 9 Proverbs 16:23–24; Proverbs 16:21; Psalm 23:5; Proverbs 15:23; Psalm 104:15
- 10 Proverbs 18:24; Proverbs 17:17; 1 Kings 12:6–8; Luke 10:30–37; Proverbs 19:7
- 11 Proverbs 10:1; Psalm 119:42; Proverbs 23:15–16; 2 John 4; Proverbs 23:24–25
- 12 Proverbs 22:3; Proverbs 18:10; Hebrews 11:7; 2 Peter 3:10–14; 2 Peter 3:7
- 13 Proverbs 20:16; Proverbs 6:1–4; Proverbs 22:26–27; Exodus 22:26
- 14 2 Samuel 16:16–19; Acts 12:22–23; Jeremiah 28:2–4; 1 Kings 22:13; 2 Samuel 15:2–7
- 15 Proverbs 21:9; Proverbs 19:13; Proverbs 21:19; Proverbs 25:24; Job 14:19
- 16 John 12:3
- 17 Hebrews 10:24; Proverbs 27:9; Job 4:3–4; 1 Samuel 23:16; Isaiah 35:3–4
- 18 1 Corinthians 9:7; 2 Timothy 2:6; Song of Songs 8:12; Luke 12:37; John 12:26
- 19 James 1:22–25; Psalm 33:15; Mark 7:21; Genesis 6:5
- 20 Ecclesiastes 1:8; 1 John 2:16; Proverbs 30:15–16; Ecclesiastes 6:7; Habakkuk 2:5
- 21 Proverbs 17:3; Zechariah 13:9; Psalm 66:10; Malachi 3:3; 1 Peter 1:7
- 22 Proverbs 23:35; Jeremiah 5:3; Isaiah 1:5; Revelation 16:10–11; Exodus 14:5
- 23 1 Peter 5:2; John 21:15–17; Genesis 33:13; 2 Chronicles 26:10; Proverbs 24:32
- 24 Proverbs 23:5; 1 Timothy 6:17–18; Zephaniah 1:18; James 1:10; Isaiah 9:7
- 25 Proverbs 10:5; Psalm 104:14
- 26 Job 31:20
- 27 Matthew 6:33; Proverbs 30:8–9
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
Have pity, O Lord God, lest they who pass by trample on the unfledged bird; and send Thine angel, who may restore it to its nest that it may live until it can fly.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 1 (1886)
Hence it is written, "Let not thy own mouth praise thee, but let thy neighbor's" mouth praise thee. But this was said to man.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 7 (1888)
There is a precept laid on man: "Let not thine own mouth praise thee, but the mouth of thy neighbor." For self-pleasing is a perilous thing for one who has to be on his guard against falling into pride.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 7 (1888)