Dangers of sin from several heads: the fear of God is the best
preservative. He that diggeth a pit, shall fall into it.
27:1. Through poverty many have sinned: and he that seeketh to be
enriched, turneth away his eye.
27:2. As a stake sticketh fast in the midst of the joining of stones, so
also in the midst of selling and buying, sin shall stick fast.
27:3. Sin shall be destroyed with the sinner.
27:4. Unless thou hold thyself diligently in the fear of the Lord, thy
house shall quickly be overthrown.
27:5. As when one sifteth with a sieve, the dust will remain: so will
the perplexity of a man in his thoughts.
27:6. The furnace trieth the potter's vessels, and the trial of
affliction just men.
27:7. As the dressing of a tree sheweth the fruit thereof, so a word out
of the thought of the heart of man.
27:8. Praise not a man before he speaketh, for this is the trial of men.
27:9. If thou followest justice, thou shalt obtain her: and shalt put
her on as a long robe of honour, and thou shalt dwell with her: and she
shall protect thee for ever, and in the day of acknowledgment thou shalt
find a strong foundation.
27:10. Birds resort unto their like: so truth will return to them that
practise her.
27:11. The lion always lieth in wait for prey: so do sins for them that
work iniquities.
27:12. A holy man continueth in wisdom as the sun: but a fool is changed
as the moon.
27:13. In the midst of the unwise keep in the word till its time: but be
continually among men that think.
27:14. The discourse of sinners is hateful, and their laughter is at the
pleasures of sin.
27:15. The speech that sweareth much shall make the hair of the head
stand upright: and its irreverence shall make one stop his ears.
27:16. In the quarrels of the road is the shedding of blood: and their
cursing is a grievous hearing.
27:17. He that discloseth the secret of a friend loseth his credit, and
shall never find a friend to his mind.
27:18. Love thy neighbour, and be joined to him with fidelity.
27:19. But if thou discover his secrets, follow no more after him.
27:20. For as a man that destroyeth his friend, so is he that destroyeth
the friendship of his neighbour.
27:21. And as one that letteth a bird go out of his hand, so hast thou
let thy neighbour go, and thou shalt not get him again.
27:22. Follow after him no more, for he is gone afar off, he is fled, as
a roe escaped out of the snare because his soul is wounded.
27:23. Thou canst no more bind him up. And of a curse there is
reconciliation:
And of a curse there is reconciliation... That is, it is easier to
obtain a reconciliation after a curse, than after disclosing a secret.
27:24. But to disclose the secrets of a friend, leaveth no hope to an
unhappy soul.
27:25. He that winketh with the eye forgeth wicked things, and no man
will cast him off:
27:26. In the sight of thy eyes he will sweeten his mouth, and will
admire thy words: but at the last he will writhe his mouth, and on thy
words he will lay a stumblingblock.
27:27. I have hated many things but not like him, and the Lord will hate
him.
27:28. If one cast a stone on high, it will fall upon his own head: and
the deceitful stroke will wound the deceitful.
27:29. He that diggeth a pit, shall fall into it: and he that setteth a
stone for his neighbour, shall stumble upon it: and he that layeth a
snare for another, shall perish in it.
27:30. A mischievous counsel shall be rolled back upon the author, and
he shall not know from whence it cometh to him.
27:31. Mockery and reproach are of the proud, and vengeance as a lion
shall lie in wait for him.
27:32. They shall perish in a snare that are delighted with the fall of
the just: and sorrow shall consume them before they die.
27:33. Anger and fury are both of them abominable, and the sinful man
shall be subject to them.