Proverbs Chapter 27

Proverbs 27 KJV

1. Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. [1] [a]

[1] For a good example, hear Captain E.J. Smith, the Captain of the Titanic (in the New York Times on April 16, 1912): “I cannot imagine any condition which would cause this ship to founder. I cannot conceive of any vital disaster happening to this vessel. Modern ship building has gone beyond that.”

[a] Memorize (James 4:14-16).

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

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

4. Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy? [2] [b]

[2] This is the “original sin” which had nothing to do with Adam or Eve. It had to do with Isaiah 14:12-16 (where the NIV covered up for Satan and gave the Devil Jesus Christ’s title, “the . . . morning star,” Rev. 22:16). It’s “envy” that causes the Antichrist to get people to call him “Holy Father” when he sits down “in the temple” at Jerusalem in order to get “worship” (2 Thess. 2:3-4).

[b] Psa. 106:16; Gen. 30:1; Acts 7:9; Job 5:2; Prov. 14:30; Matt. 27:18.

5. Open rebuke is better than secret love.

6. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; [c] but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. [d]

[c] E.g., Christ and Peter (Matt. 16:23).

[d] E.g., Judas and Christ (Matt. 26:48-50).

7. The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; [e] but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet. [3]

[e] Prov. 25:16, 27, 24:13.

[3] The verse is comparing a man who has all he wants in this life, having no use for the words of God (Psa. 119:103), and a man hungering and thirsting for the words of God so much that he’ll even take them when they are bitter (Matt. 5:6).

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

9. Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man’s friend by hearty counsel.

10. Thine own friend, and thy father’s friend, forsake not; neither go into thy brother’s house in the day of thy calamity: for better is a neighbour that is near than a brother far off.

11. My son, be wise, and make my heart glad, that I may answer him that reproacheth me.

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

[f] Historically Noah (see note on Prov. 22:3); spiritually a Christian (Col. 3:3); prophetically the post-Tribulation rapture (Isa. 26:19-20).

13. Take his garment that is surety for a stranger, and take a pledge of him for a strange woman.

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

15. A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike. [g]

[g] Prov. 19:3, 22:10, 13:10.

16. Whosoever hideth her hideth the wind, and the ointment of his right hand, which bewrayeth itself.

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

18. Whoso keepeth the fig tree shall eat the fruit thereof: so he that waiteth on his master shall be honoured.

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

20. Hell and destruction are never full; [h] so the eyes of man are never satisfied.

[h] Cf. Prov. 30:16 and 15:11.

21. As the fining pot for silver, and the furnace for gold; so is a man to his praise.

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

23. Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds.

24. For riches are not for ever: and doth the crown endure to every generation?

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

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

27. And thou shalt have goats’ milk enough for thy food, for the food of thy household, and for the maintenance for thy maidens.

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