Do Not Boast about Tomorrow
1Boast not thyself of to-morrow, For thou knowest not what a day bringeth forth.
2Let another praise thee, and not thine own mouth, A stranger, and not thine own lips.
3A stone [is] heavy, and the sand [is] heavy, And the anger of a fool Is heavier than they both.
4Fury [is] fierce, and anger [is] overflowing, And who standeth before jealousy?
5Better [is] open reproof than hidden love.
6Faithful are the wounds of a lover, And abundant the kisses of an enemy.
7A satiated soul treadeth down a honeycomb, And [to] a hungry soul every bitter thing [is] sweet.
8As a bird wandering from her nest, So [is] a man wandering from his place.
9Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart, And the sweetness of one’s friend—from counsel of the soul.
10Thine own friend, and the friend of thy father, forsake not, And the house of thy brother enter not In a day of thy calamity, Better [is] a near neighbour than a brother afar off.
11Be wise, my son, and rejoice my heart. And I return my reproacher a word.
12The prudent hath seen the evil, he is hidden, The simple have passed on, they are punished.
13Take his garment, when a stranger hath been surety, And for a strange woman pledge it.
14Whoso is saluting his friend with a loud voice, In the morning rising early, A light thing it is reckoned to him.
15A continual dropping in a day of rain, And a woman of contentions are alike,
16Whoso is hiding her hath hidden the wind, And the ointment of his right hand calleth out.
17Iron by iron is sharpened, And a man sharpens the face of his friend.
18The keeper of a fig-tree eateth its fruit, And the preserver of his master is honoured.
19As [in] water the face [is] to face, So the heart of man to man.
20Sheol and destruction are not satisfied, And the eyes of man are not satisfied.
21A refining pot [is] for silver, and a furnace for gold, And a man according to his praise.
22If thou dost beat the foolish in a mortar, Among washed things—with a pestle, His folly turneth not aside from off him.
23Know well the face of thy flock, Set thy heart to the droves,
24For riches [are] not to the age, Nor a crown to generation and generation.
25Revealed was the hay, and seen the tender grass, And gathered the herbs of mountains.
26Lambs [are] for thy clothing, And the price of the field [are] he-goats,
27And a sufficiency of goats’ milk [is] for thy bread, For bread to thy house, and life to thy damsels!
