Do Not Boast about Tomorrow

1Boast not thyself of to-morrow, for thou knowest not what a day will bring forth.

2Let another praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips.

3A stone is heavy, and the sand weighty; but a fool's vexation is heavier than them both.

4Fury is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before jealousy?

5Open rebuke is better than hidden love.

6Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are profuse.

7The full soul trampleth on a honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.

8As a bird that wandereth from her nest, so is a man that wandereth from his place.

9Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart; and the sweetness of one's friend is [the fruit] of hearty counsel.

10Thine own friend, and thy father's friend, forsake not; and go not into thy brother's house in the day of thy calamity: better is a neighbour that is near than a brother far off.

11Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad, that I may have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me.

12A prudent [man] seeth the evil, [and] hideth himself; the simple pass on, [and] are punished.

13Take his garment that is become surety [for] another, and hold him in pledge for a strange woman.

14He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, it shall be reckoned a curse to him.

15A continual dropping on a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike:

16whosoever will restrain her restraineth the wind, and his right hand encountereth oil.

17Iron is sharpened by iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.

18Whoso keepeth the fig-tree shall eat the fruit thereof; and he that guardeth his master shall be honoured.

19As [in] water face [answereth] to face, so the heart of man to man.

20Sheol and destruction are insatiable; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.

21The fining-pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold; so let a man be to the mouth that praiseth him.

22If thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his folly depart from him.

23Be well acquainted with the appearance of thy flocks; look well to thy herds:

24for wealth is not for ever; and doth the crown [endure] from generation to generation?

25The hay is removed, and the tender grass sheweth itself, and herbs of the mountains are gathered in.

26The lambs are for thy clothing, and the goats are the price of a field;

27and there is goats' milk enough for thy food, for the food of thy household, and sustenance for thy maidens.