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Proverbs 27

Proverbs 27 joins humility about tomorrow with honest friendship and steady care for the people and resources close at hand.

A wisdom teacher addresses a learner as a son amid sayings about uncertain days, friendship, and the demands of ordinary life. The sayings contrast honest correction with empty affection and warn about jealousy, careless promises, and praise. Images of sharpening iron and a face reflected in water explore how people shape and reveal character. The closing verses turn to tending livestock, describing the care needed to feed a household when wealth cannot be counted on.

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1Don’t boast about tomorrow; for you don’t know what a day may bring.
2Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.
3A stone is heavy, and sand is a burden; but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both.
4Wrath is cruel, and anger is overwhelming; but who is able to stand before jealousy?
5Better is open rebuke than hidden love.
6The wounds of a friend are faithful, although the kisses of an enemy are profuse.
7A full soul loathes a honeycomb; but to a hungry soul, every bitter thing is sweet.
8As a bird that wanders from her nest, so is a man who wanders from his home.
9Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart; so does earnest counsel from a man’s friend.
10Don’t forsake your friend and your father’s friend. Don’t go to your brother’s house in the day of your disaster. A neighbor who is near is better than a distant brother.
11Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart, then I can answer my tormentor.
12A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge; but the simple pass on, and suffer for it.
13Take his garment when he puts up collateral for a stranger. Hold it for a wayward woman!
14He who blesses his neighbor with a loud voice early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse by him.
15A continual dropping on a rainy day and a contentious wife are alike:
17Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens his friend’s countenance.
18Whoever tends the fig tree shall eat its fruit. He who looks after his master shall be honored.
19Like water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man.
20Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied; and a man’s eyes are never satisfied.
21The crucible is for silver, and the furnace for gold; but man is refined by his praise.
22Though you grind a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with grain, yet his foolishness will not be removed from him.
23Know well the state of your flocks, and pay attention to your herds,
24for riches are not forever, nor does the crown endure to all generations.
27There will be plenty of goats’ milk for your food, for your family’s food, and for the nourishment of your servant girls.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Proverbs 27:1The opening warning sets a limit on human confidence that the closing instructions about uncertain wealth reinforce.
Proverbs 27:9Earnest counsel brings joy within a cluster of sayings that connect friendship with correction and dependable help.
Proverbs 27:17The image of sharpening iron presents friendship as an active influence on a person's character and bearing.
Where this chapter reaches

James shares the warning against boasting about tomorrow, exposing the limits of human knowledge about the future. Ecclesiastes shares the chapter’s concern with the uncertainty of wealth and the value of companionship, including the help another person can provide in trouble.

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After reading the whole chapter

How do the sayings about rebuke, counsel, and sharpening affect your understanding of a good friend?

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Where do you see a difference between boasting about tomorrow and tending what is entrusted to you today?

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Questions people ask about Proverbs 27

What does “Iron sharpens iron” mean in Proverbs 27:17?

The saying compares a friend's influence to iron sharpening iron. Its second line names the friend's countenance, suggesting an effect on the person that becomes visible in expression or bearing. Alongside the sayings about rebuke and earnest counsel, it portrays friendship as a relationship that can improve judgment and character.

What does “The wounds of a friend are faithful” mean?

Verse 6 follows the claim that open rebuke is better than hidden love. The wounds therefore point to the pain of honest correction from a friend, while an enemy's kisses can conceal hostility. The contrast concerns whether affection is trustworthy; it gives no permission for cruelty or physical harm.

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What the Bible says about money →

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).