Proverbs 25:1-28
25 These also are the proverbs of Solʹo·mon+ that the men of Hez·e·kiʹah the king of Judah+ transcribed:
2 The glory of God is the keeping of a matter secret,+ and the glory of kings is the searching through a matter.+
3 The heavens for height+ and the earth for depth,+ and the heart of kings, that is unsearchable.+
4 Let there be a removing* of scummy dross from the silver, and all of it will come forth refined.*+
5 Let there be the removing of the wicked one before the king,+ and his throne will be firmly established by righteousness itself.+
6 Do not do yourself honor before the king,+ and in the place of great ones do not stand.+
7 For it is better [for him] to say to you: “Come up here,”+ than to abase you before a noble whom your eyes have seen.+
8 Do 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.+
9 Plead your own cause with your fellowman,+ and do not reveal the confidential talk of another;+
10 that the one listening may not put you to shame and the bad report by you can have no recall.
11 As apples of gold in silver carvings is a word spoken at the right time for it.+
12 An earring of gold, and an ornament of special gold,* is a wise reprover upon the hearing ear.+
13 Just 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.*+
14 As vaporous clouds and a wind without any downpour is a man* boasting himself about a gift in falsehood.+
15 By patience* a commander is induced, and a mild tongue itself can break a bone.+
16 Is 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.+
17 Make your foot rare at the house of your fellowman, that he may not have his sufficiency of you and certainly hate you.
18 As a war club and a sword and a sharpened arrow is a man testifying against his fellowman as a false witness.+
19 As a broken tooth and a wobbling foot is the confidence in one proving treacherous in the day of distress.+
20 He that is removing a garment on a cold day is as vinegar upon alkali and as a singer with songs upon a gloomy heart.+
21 If the one hating you is hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.+
22 For coals are what you are raking together upon his head,+ and Jehovah himself will reward you.+
23 The wind from the north brings forth as with labor pains a downpour;+ and a tongue [giving away] a secret, a denounced face.+
24 Better is it to dwell upon a corner of a roof than with a contentious wife, although in a house in common.+
25 As cold water upon a tired soul,+ so is a good report from a distant land.+
26 A fouled spring and a ruined well is the righteous one when staggering before the wicked one.+
27 The eating of too much honey is not good;+ and for people to search out their own glory, is it glory?+
28 As a city broken through, without a wall, is the man that has no restraint for his spirit.+
Footnotes
^ “Let there be a removing.” In Heb. this is a verb in the infinitive absolute, indefinite as to time and impersonal.
^ “All of it will come forth refined,” by slight changes in M and in agreement with LXX; M, “a vessel will come forth for the refiner.”
^ “Special gold.” Heb., khaʹthem, an Egyptian loanword.
^ Or, “his master.” Heb., ʼadho·navʹ, pl., possibly to denote excellence.
^ Or, “for . . . the very life.” Heb., weneʹphesh.
^ Or, “the one sending,” pl. in M, to denote excellence.
^ “A man.” Heb., ʼish.
^ Lit., “In length (slowness) of nostrils (anger).”
