1 Do not boast of tomorrow,
For you do not know what a day brings forth.
2 Let another man 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 wrath is heavier than both.
4 Wrath is cruel and displeasure overwhelming,
But who is able to stand before jealousy?
5 Open reproof is better than hidden love.
6 The wounds of a friend are true,
But the kisses of an enemy are profuse.
7 One satisfied loathes the honeycomb,
But to a hungry one any bitter is sweet.
8 Like a bird that wanders from its nest,
So is a man who wanders from his place.
9 Ointment and perfume gladden the heart,
So one’s counsel is sweet to his friend.
10 Do not forsake your own friend or your father’s friend,
And do not go into your brother’s house
In the day of your calamity –
Better is a neighbour nearby than a brother far away.
11 My son, be wise, and gladden my heart,
That I might have a word for him who reproaches me.
12 A clever man foresees calamity, hides himself;
The simple shall go on, they are punished.
13 Take the garment of him who is guarantor for a stranger,
And for a strange woman pledge it.
14 He who greets his friend loudly early in the morning,
Shall have it reckoned to him as a curse.
15 Drops that never cease on a very rainy day
And a contentious woman are alike;
16 Whoever represses her represses the wind,
And his right hand encounters oil.
17 Iron is sharpened by iron,
And a man sharpens the face of his friend.
18 He who tends the fig tree eats its fruit;
And he who guards his master is esteemed.
19 As in water face is to face,
So a man’s heart to man.
20 The grave and destruction are not satisfied;
So the eyes of man are not satisfied.
21 A refining pot is for silver and a furnace for gold,
So a man is tried by his praise.
22 Even if you pound a fool in a mortar
With a pestle along with crushed grain,
His folly shall not leave him.
23 Know well the state of your flocks;
Apply your heart to your herds;
24 For riches are not forever,
Nor a diadem to all generations.
25 Grass vanishes, and new grass appears,
And the vegetation of the mountains are gathered in.
26 The lambs are for your garments,
And the goats for the price of a field;
27 And goats’ milk enough for your food,
For the food of your household,
And sustenance for your girls.