Read the Bible

¹ Don't boast yourself of tomorrow; For you don't know what a day may bring forth.

² Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth; A stranger, and not your own lips.

³ A stone is heavy, and the sand weighty; But a fool's vexation is heavier than both of them.⁴ Wrath is cruel, and anger is overwhelming; But who is able to stand before jealousy?

⁵ Better is open rebuke Than love that is hidden.⁶ Faithful are the wounds of a friend; But the kisses of an enemy are profuse.

⁷ The full soul loathes a honeycomb; But to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.

⁸ As a bird that wanders from her nest, So is a man that wanders from his place.

⁹ Oil and perfume rejoice the heart; So does the sweetness of a man's friend [that comes] of hearty counsel.¹⁰ Your own friend, and your father's friend, do not forsake; And don't go to your brother's house in the day of your calamity: Better is a neighbor that is near than a brother far off.

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

¹² A prudent man sees the evil, [and] hides himself; [But] the simple pass on, [and] suffer for it.

¹³ Take his garment that is surety for a stranger; And hold him in pledge [that is surety] for a foreign woman.

¹⁴ He that blesses 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 He that would restrain her restrains the wind; And his right hand encounters oil.

¹⁷ Iron sharpens iron; So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.

¹⁸ Whoever keeps the fig-tree shall eat the fruit thereof; And he that regards his master shall be honored.

¹⁹ As in water face [answers] to face, So the heart of man to man.

²⁰ Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied; And the eyes of man are never satisfied.

²¹ The refining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold; And a man is [tried] by his praise.

²² Though you should bray a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with bruised grain, Yet his foolishness will not depart from him.

²³ Be diligent to know the state of your flocks, [And] look well to your herds:²⁴ For riches are not forever: And does the crown endure to all generations?²⁵ The hay is carried, and the tender grass shows itself, And the herbs of the mountains are gathered in.²⁶ The lambs are for your clothing, And the goats are the price of the field;²⁷ And [there will be] goats' milk enough for your food, for the food of your household, And maintenance for your maidens.