Proverbs · 27 verses
Proverbs 27
Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.
The chapter
What happens here
Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.
A fool may be ground like grain in a mortar, and still keep his folly—an oddly durable ingredient.
What speech can dovv. 1–10
Tomorrow refuses to be boasted about, praise is best supplied by somebody else, and a loud blessing before breakfast somehow acquires the status of a curse. The chapter does not say why; it merely leaves the blessing standing there, magnificently unwelcome. A friend’s wound is faithful, an enemy’s kiss deceitful, and appetite turns the world upside down: the full soul loathes honey while the hungry soul finds sweetness in bitterness. A wandering man is compared to a bird away from its nest, and a nearby neighbour proves more useful in calamity than a distant brother.
The unmanageable and the revealingvv. 11–22
The prudent see danger and take cover; the simple continue on and pay for it. A contentious woman is likened to rain’s constant dripping, and restraining her is compared with holding the wind or grasping oil—two enterprises not famous for staying put. Iron sharpens iron, a fig tree rewards its keeper, and water reflects the face while the heart reflects the true man. Praise becomes a test, and even the mortar and pestle cannot grind folly out of a fool. The pestle, in this proverb, is formidable; the folly is more so.
The household in its fieldsvv. 23–27
The final movement leaves clever comparisons for the patient business of knowing the flocks and watching the herds. Riches and crowns are temporary; hay is removed, new growth appears, and grass is gathered from the hills. Then the lambs provide clothing, the goats pay for a field, and goats’ milk feeds the household and its maidservants. The chapter ends not in a palace but among animals, grass, garments, property, and a very practical quantity of milk.
The text
Read it
Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.
Prov 27:1Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.
Prov 27:2Let another praise you, and not your own mouth—a stranger, and not your own lips.
Prov 27:3A stone is heavy and sand is a burden, but aggravation from a fool outweighs them both.
Prov 27:4Wrath is cruel and anger is like a flood, but who can withstand jealousy?
Prov 27:5Better an open rebuke than love that is concealed.
Prov 27:6The wounds of a friend are faithful, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.
Prov 27:7The soul that is full loathes honey, but to a hungry soul, any bitter thing is sweet.
Prov 27:8Like a bird that strays from its nest is a man who wanders from his home.
Prov 27:9Oil and incense bring joy to the heart, and the counsel of a friend is sweetness to the soul.
Prov 27:10Do not forsake your friend or your father’s friend, and do not go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity; better a neighbor nearby than a brother far away.
Prov 27:11Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart, so that I can answer him who taunts me.
Prov 27:12The prudent see danger and take cover, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.
Prov 27:13Take the garment of him who posts security for a stranger; get collateral if it is for a foreigner.
Prov 27:14If one blesses his neighbor with a loud voice early in the morning, it will be counted to him as a curse.
Prov 27:15A constant dripping on a rainy day and a contentious woman are alike—
Prov 27:16restraining her is like holding back the wind or grasping oil with one’s right hand.
Prov 27:17As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.
Prov 27:18Whoever tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and he who looks after his master will be honored.
Prov 27:19As water reflects the face, so the heart reflects the true man.
Prov 27:20Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.
Prov 27:21A crucible for silver and a furnace for gold, but a man is tested by the praise accorded him.
Prov 27:22Though you grind a fool like grain with mortar and a pestle, yet his folly will not depart from him.
Prov 27:23Be sure to know the state of your flocks, and pay close attention to your herds;
Prov 27:24for riches are not forever, nor does a crown endure to every generation.
Prov 27:25When hay is removed and new growth appears and the grass from the hills is gathered,
Prov 27:26the lambs will provide you with clothing, and the goats with the price of a field.
Prov 27:27You will have plenty of goats’ milk to feed you—food for your household and nourishment for your maidservants.
02 — Read alongside
Where this is echoed
Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 239 passages were voted onto 27 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.
- 17Hebrews 10:24And let us consider how to spur one another on to love and good deeds.
- 17Proverbs 27:9Oil and incense bring joy to the heart, and the counsel of a friend is sweetness to the soul.
- 17Job 4:3–4Surely you have instructed many, and have strengthened their feeble hands.
- 171 Samuel 23:16And Saul’s son Jonathan came to David in Horesh and strengthened his hand in God,
- 17Isaiah 35:3–4Strengthen the limp hands and steady the feeble knees!
- 172 Timothy 2:3Join me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
- 1James 4:13–16Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business, and make a profit.”
- 6Psalms 141:5Let the righteous man strike me; let his rebuke be an act of loving devotion. It is oil for my head; let me not refuse it. For my prayer is ever against the deeds of the wicked.
- 20Ecclesiastes 1:8All things are wearisome, more than one can describe; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear content with hearing.
- 5Proverbs 28:23He who rebukes a man will later find more favor than one who flatters with his tongue.
- 171 Peter 4:12–13Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial that has come upon you, as though something strange were happening to you.
- 22 Corinthians 10:18For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.
- 1Luke 12:19–20Then I will say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take it easy. Eat, drink, and be merry!”’
- 51 Timothy 5:20But those who persist in sin should be rebuked in front of everyone, so that the others will stand in fear of sin.
- 172 Samuel 10:11–12“If the Arameans are too strong for me,” said Joab, “then you will come to my rescue. And if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come to your rescue.
- 201 John 2:16For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world.
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