Proverbs 25:1–28

¹These also are the proverbs of Sol′o‧mon that the men of Hez‧e‧ki′ah the king of Judah transcribed:

²The glory of God is the keeping of a matter secret, and the glory of kings is the searching through a matter.

³The heavens for height and the earth for depth, and the heart of kings, that is unsearchable.

⁴Let there be a removing of scummy dross from the silver, and all of it will come forth refined.

⁵Let there be the removing of the wicked one before the king, and his throne will be firmly established by righteousness itself.

⁶Do not do yourself honor before the king, and in the place of great ones do not stand.⁷For it is better [for him] to say to you: “Come up here,” than to abase you before a noble whom your eyes have seen.

⁸Do not go forth to conduct a legal case hastily, that it may not be a question of what you will do in the culmination of it when your fellowman now humiliates you.⁹Plead your own cause with your fellowman, and do not reveal the confidential talk of another;¹⁰that the one listening may not put you to shame and the bad report by you can have no recall.

¹¹As apples of gold in silver carvings is a word spoken at the right time for it.

¹²An earring of gold, and an ornament of special gold, is a wise reprover upon the hearing ear.

¹³Just like the coolness of snow in the day of harvest is the faithful envoy to those sending him, for he restores the very soul of his masters.

¹⁴As vaporous clouds and a wind without any downpour is a man boasting himself about a gift in falsehood.

¹⁵By patience a commander is induced, and a mild tongue itself can break a bone.

¹⁶Is it honey that you have found? Eat what is sufficient for you, that you may not take too much of it and have to vomit it up.

¹⁷Make your foot rare at the house of your fellowman, that he may not have his sufficiency of you and certainly hate you.

¹⁸As a war club and a sword and a sharpened arrow is a man testifying against his fellowman as a false witness.

¹⁹As a broken tooth and a wobbling foot is the confidence in one proving treacherous in the day of distress.

²⁰He that is removing a garment on a cold day is as vinegar upon alkali and as a singer with songs upon a gloomy heart.

²¹If the one hating you is hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.²²For coals are what you are raking together upon his head, and Jehovah himself will reward you.

²³The wind from the north brings forth as with labor pains a downpour; and a tongue [giving away] a secret, a denounced face.

²⁴Better is it to dwell upon a corner of a roof than with a contentious wife, although in a house in common.

²⁵As cold water upon a tired soul, so is a good report from a distant land.

²⁶A fouled spring and a ruined well is the righteous one when staggering before the wicked one.

²⁷The eating of too much honey is not good; and for people to search out their own glory, is it glory?

²⁸As a city broken through, without a wall, is the man that has no restraint for his spirit.