1 Don’t boast about tomorrow; for you don’t know what a day may bring.
2 Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.
3 A stone is heavy, and sand is a burden; but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both.
4 Wrath is cruel, and anger is overwhelming; but who is able to stand before jealousy?
5 Better is open rebuke than hidden love.
6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend; although the kisses of an enemy are profuse.
7 A full soul loathes a honeycomb; but to a hungry soul, every bitter thing is sweet.
8 As a bird that wanders from her nest, so is a man who wanders from his home.
9 Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart; so does earnest counsel from a man’s friend.
10 Don’t forsake your friend and your father’s friend. Don’t go to your brother’s house in the day of your disaster: better is a neighbor who is near than a distant brother.
11 Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart, then I can answer my tormentor.
12 A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge; but the simple pass on, and suffer for it.
13 Take his garment when he puts up collateral for a stranger. Hold it for a wayward woman!
14 He who blesses his neighbor with a loud voice early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse by him.
15 A continual dropping on a rainy day and a contentious wife are alike:
16 restraining her is like restraining the wind, or like grasping oil in his right hand.
17 Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens his friend’s countenance.
18 Whoever tends the fig tree shall eat its fruit. He who looks after his master shall be honored.
19 Like water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man.
20 Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied; and a man’s eyes are never satisfied.
21 The crucible is for silver, and the furnace for gold; but man is refined by his praise.
22 Though you grind a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with grain, yet his foolishness will not be removed from him.
23 Know well the state of your flocks, and pay attention to your herds:
24 for riches are not forever, nor does even the crown endure to all generations.
25 The hay is removed, and the new growth appears, the grasses of the hills are gathered in.
26 The lambs are for your clothing, and the goats are the price of a field.
27 There will be plenty of goats’ milk for your food, for your family’s food, and for the nourishment of your servant girls.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary, 1706
Verse 1
We know not what a day may bring forth. This does not forbid preparing for to-morrow, but presuming upon to-morrow. We must not put off the great work of conversion, that one thing needful.
Verse 2
There may be occasion for us to justify ourselves, but not to praise ourselves.
Verses 3, 4
Those who have no command of their passions, sink under the load.
Verses 5, 6
Plain and faithful rebukes are better, not only than secret hatred, but than love which compliments in sin, to the hurt of the soul.
Verse 7
The poor have a better relish of their enjoyments, and are often more thankful for them, than the rich. In like manner the proud and self-sufficient disdain the gospel; but those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, find comfort from the meanest book or sermon that testifies of Christ Jesus.
Verse 8
Every man has his proper place in society, where he may be safe and comfortable.
Verses 9, 10
Depend not for relief upon a kinsman, merely for kindred’s sake; apply to those who are at hand, and will help in need. But there is a Friend that sticketh closer than a brother, and let us place entire confidence in him.
Verse 11
An affectionate parent urges his son to prudent conduct that should gladden his heart. The good conduct of Christians is the best answer to all who find fault with the gospel.
Verse 12
Where there is temptation, if we thrust ourselves into it, there will be sin, and punishment will follow.
Verse 13
An honest man may be made a beggar, but he is not honest that makes himself one.
Verse 14
It is folly to be fond of being praised; it is a temptation to pride.
Verses 15, 16
The contentions of a neighbour may be like a sharp shower, troublesome for a time; the contentions of a wife are like constant rain.
Verse 17
We are cautioned to take heed whom we converse with. And directed to have in view, in conversation, to make one another wiser and better.
Verse 18
Though a calling be laborious and despised, yet those who keep to it, will find there is something to be got by it. God is a Master who has engaged to honour those who serve him faithfully.
Verse 19
One corrupt heart is like another; so are sanctified hearts: the former bear the same image of the earthly, the latter the same image of the heavenly. Let us carefully watch our own hearts, comparing them with the word of God.
Verse 20
Two things are here said to be never satisfied, death and sin. The appetites of the carnal mind for profit or pleasure are always desiring more. Those whose eyes are ever toward the Lord, are satisfied in him, and shall for ever be so.
Verse 21
Silver and gold are tried by putting them into the furnace and fining-pot; so is a man tried by praising him.
Verse 22
Some are so bad, that even severe methods do not answer the end; what remains but that they should be rejected? The new-creating power of God’s grace alone is able to make a change.
Verses 23–27
We ought to have some business to do in this world, and not to live in idleness, and not to meddle with what we do not understand. We must be diligent and take pains. Let us do what we can, still the world cannot be secured to us, therefore we must choose a more lasting portion; but by the blessing of God upon our honest labours, we may expect to enjoy as much of earthly blessings as is
good for us.