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!