27 Don’t brag about what will happen tomorrow.
    You don’t really know what will happen then.

² Don’t praise yourself. Let someone else do it.
    Let the praise come from a stranger and not from your own mouth.

³ Stone is heavy, and sand is hard to carry.
    But the complaining of a foolish person causes more trouble than either.

⁴ Anger is cruel. It destroys like a flood.
    But who can put up with jealousy!

⁵ It is better to correct someone openly
    than to love him and not show it.

⁶ The slap of a friend can be trusted to help you.
    But the kisses of an enemy are nothing but lies.

⁷ When someone is full, not even honey tastes good.
    But when he is hungry, even something bitter tastes sweet.

⁸ A man who leaves his home
    is like a bird that leaves its nest.

⁹ Perfume and oils make you happy.
    And good advice from a friend is sweet.

¹⁰ Don’t forget your friend or your father’s friend.
    Don’t always go to your brother for help when trouble comes.
    A neighbor close by is better than a brother far away.

¹¹ Be wise, my child, and you will make me happy.
    Then I can respond to any insult.

¹² When a wise person sees danger ahead, he avoids it.
    But a foolish person keeps going and gets into trouble.

¹³ Take the coat of someone who promises to pay what a stranger owes.
    Keep it until he pays the stranger’s bills.

¹⁴ Don’t greet your neighbor loudly early in the morning.
    He will think of it as a curse.

¹⁵ A quarreling wife is as bothersome
    as a continual dripping on a rainy day.
¹⁶ Stopping her is like stopping the wind.
    It’s like trying to grab oil in your hand.

¹⁷ Iron can sharpen iron.
    In the same way, people can help each other.

¹⁸ The person who tends a fig tree will eat its fruit.
    And the person who takes care of his master will be honored.

¹⁹ As water shows you your face,
    so your mind shows you what kind of person you are.

²⁰ People will never stop dying and being destroyed.
    In the same way, people will never stop wanting more than they have.

²¹ A hot furnace tests silver and gold.
    And people are tested by the praise they receive.

²² Even if you ground up a foolish person like grain in a bowl,
    you couldn’t remove his foolishness.

²³ Be sure you know how your sheep are doing.
    Pay close attention to the condition of your cattle.
²⁴ Riches will not continue forever.
    Nor do governments continue forever.
²⁵ Bring in the hay. Let the new grass appear.
    Gather the grass from the hills.
²⁶ Make clothes from the lambs’ wool.
    Sell some goats to buy a field.
²⁷ There will be plenty of goat milk
    to feed you and your family.
    It will make your servant girls healthy.