1.
Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.
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?
5.
Open rebuke is better than secret love.
6.
Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.
7.
The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.
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.
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.
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.
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‘Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.’
Proverbs 27:17
I. The character of true friendship.—It should be simple, manly, unreserved, not weak, or fond, or extravagant, nor yet exacting more than human nature can fairly give. It should be easy, too, and cheerful, careful of little things, having also a sort of dignity which is based on mutual respect. Perhaps the greatest element of friendship is faithfulness.
II. Like the other goods of life, friendship is commonly mixed and imperfect, and liable to be interrupted by changing circumstances or the tempers of men.—The memory of a friendship is, like the memory of the dead, not likely to be spoken of or aspersed.
III. Christian friendship is another aspect of the ideal, though in some respects different.—For the spirit of a man’s life may be more or less consciously Christian. That which others regard as the service of man he may recognise to be the service of God; that which others do out of compassion for their fellow-creatures he may also do from the love of Christ. And so of friendship; that also may be more immediately based on religious motives, and may flow out of a religious principle. ‘They walked together to the house of God’; that is, if I may venture a paraphrase of the words, they served God together in doing good to His creatures. Human friendships constantly require to be purified and raised from earth to heaven.
IV. Some among us have known what it is to lose a friend.—Death is a gracious teacher. The thought of a departed friend or child, instead of sinking us in sorrow, may be a guiding light to us, like the thought of Christ to His disciples, bringing many things to our remembrance of which we were ignorant; and if we have hope in God for ourselves, we have hope also for them. We believe that they rest in Him, and that no evil shall touch them.
Rev. Dr. B. Jowett.
Illustration
‘Oh, the sweetness of a man’s friend! it is as ointment and perfume to the heart. Let us be careful not to forsake a friend, especially if he be an old friend of many years’ standing. At the same time, we shall probably keep our friends longest if we remember the warning of Proverbs 27:14. Mutual intercourse between friend and friend tends to the sharpening of each, and so we say: Choose your friends wisely, cling to them tenaciously, make much of them, be true to them, and through them learn the friendship of God.’
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; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.
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.