Proverbs 27:10-21

Do not forsake your friend and your father’s friend, and do not enter your brother’s house in the day of your disaster; a neighbor nearby is better than a brother far away. Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad, so that I may answer anyone who taunts me. A shrewd person sees danger and hides himself, but the naive keep right on going and suffer for it. Take a man’s garment when he has given security for a stranger, and when he gives surety for a stranger, hold him in pledge. If someone blesses his neighbor with a loud voice early in the morning, it will be counted as a curse to him. A continual dripping on a rainy day and a contentious wife are alike. Whoever hides her hides the wind or grasps oil with his right hand. As iron sharpens iron, so a person sharpens his friend. The one who tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and whoever takes care of his master will be honored. As in water the face is reflected as a face, so a person’s heart reflects the person. As Death and Destruction are never satisfied, so the eyes of a person are never satisfied. As the crucible is for silver and the furnace is for gold, so a person is proved by the praise he receives.