Similitudes, Instructions

      1These also are proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah, transcribed.

2It is the glory of God to conceal a matter,
         But the glory of kings is to search out a matter.

3As the heavens for height and the earth for depth,
         So the heart of kings is unsearchable.

4Take away the dross from the silver,
         And there comes out a vessel for the smith;

5Take away the wicked before the king,
         And his throne will be established in righteousness.

6Do not claim honor in the presence of the king,
         And do not stand in the place of great men;

7For it is better that it be said to you, “Come up here,”
         Than for you to be placed lower in the presence of the prince,
         Whom your eyes have seen.

8Do not go out hastily to argue your case;
         Otherwise, what will you do in the end,
         When your neighbor humiliates you?

9Argue your case with your neighbor,
         And do not reveal the secret of another,

10Or he who hears it will reproach you,
         And the evil report about you will not pass away.

11Like apples of gold in settings of silver
         Is a word spoken in right circumstances.

12Like an earring of gold and an ornament of fine gold
         Is a wise reprover to a listening ear.

13Like the cold of snow in the time of harvest
         Is a faithful messenger to those who send him,
         For he refreshes the soul of his masters.

14Like clouds and wind without rain
         Is a man who boasts of his gifts falsely.

15By forbearance a ruler may be persuaded,
         And a soft tongue breaks the bone.

16Have you found honey? Eat only what you need,
         That you not have it in excess and vomit it.

17Let your foot rarely be in your neighbor’s house,
         Or he will become weary of you and hate you.

18Like a club and a sword and a sharp arrow
         Is a man who bears false witness against his neighbor.

19Like a bad tooth and an unsteady foot
         Is confidence in a faithless man in time of trouble.

20Like one who takes off a garment on a cold day, or like vinegar on soda,
         Is he who sings songs to a troubled heart.

21If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat;
         And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink;

22For you will heap burning coals on his head,
         And the LORD will reward you.

23The north wind brings forth rain,
         And a backbiting tongue, an angry countenance.

24It is better to live in a corner of the roof
         Than in a house shared with a contentious woman.

25Like cold water to a weary soul,
         So is good news from a distant land.

26Like a trampled spring and a polluted well
         Is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked.

27It is not good to eat much honey,
         Nor is it glory to search out one’s own glory.

28Like a city that is broken into and without walls
         Is a man who has no control over his spirit.

NASB ©1995

American Standard Version
These also are proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out.

Douay-Rheims Bible
These are also parables of Solomon, which the men of Ezechias king of Juda copied out.

Darby Bible Translation
These are also proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah transcribed.

English Revised Version
These also are proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out.

Webster's Bible Translation
These are also proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out.

World English Bible
These also are proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out.

Young's Literal Translation
Also these are Proverbs of Solomon, that men of Hezekiah king of Judah transcribed: -- An Unwalled City
'He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.'--PROVERBS xxv. 28. The text gives us a picture of a state of society when an unwalled city is no place for men to dwell in. In the Europe of today there are still fortified places, but for the most part, battlements are turned into promenades; the gateways are gateless; the sweet flowers blooming where armed feet used to tread; and men live securely without bolts and bars. But their spirits cannot yet …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

God's Glory in Hiding Sin
A sermon (No. 2838) intended for reading on Lord's Day, July 5th 1903, delivered by C. H. Spurgeon at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington, on Lord's Day evening, July 15th, 1877. "It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter."--Proverbs 25:2. The translation of our text, if it had been more literal, would have run thus, "It is the glory of God to cover a matter, but the honor of kings is to search out a matter." For the sake of variety in language …
C.H. Spurgeon—Sermons on Proverbs

Good News
A sermon (No. 2866) delivered on Thursday Evening, January 6th, 1876, by C.H. Spurgeon at The Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington. "As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country."--Proverbs 25:25. This is a text for summertime rather than for a winter's evening. It is only on one of our hottest summer days that we could fully appreciate the illustration here employed; we need to be parched with thirst to be able to feel the value of cold waters to quench our thirst. At the same …
C.H. Spurgeon—Sermons on Proverbs

That a Man Should not be a Curious Searcher of the Sacrament, but a Humble Imitator of Christ, Submitting his Sense to Holy Faith
The Voice of the Beloved Thou must take heed of curious and useless searching into this most profound Sacrament, if thou wilt not be plunged into the abyss of doubt. He that is a searcher of Majesty shall be oppressed by the glory thereof.(1) God is able to do more than man can understand. A pious and humble search after truth is to be allowed, when it is always ready to be taught, and striving to walk after the wholesome opinions of the fathers. 2. Blessed is the simplicity which leaveth alone …
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ

Epistle xxxix. To Eulogius, Patriarch of Alexandria.
To Eulogius, Patriarch of Alexandria. Gregory to Eulogius, &c. As cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country (Prov. xxv. 25). But what can be good news to me, so far as concerns the behoof of holy Church, but to hear of the health and safety of your to me most sweet Holiness, who, from your perception of the light of truth, both illuminate the same Church with the word of preaching, and mould it to a better way by the example of your manners? As often, too, as I recall in …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

Epistle Xlii. To Eulogius, Patriarch of Alexandria.
To Eulogius, Patriarch of Alexandria. Gregory to Eulogius, &c. We return great thanks to Almighty God, that in the mouth of the heart a sweet savour of charity is experienced, when that which is written is fulfilled, As cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country (Prov. xxv. 25). For I had previously been greatly disturbed by a letter from Boniface the Chartularius, my responsalis, who dwells in the royal city, saying that your to me most sweet and pleasant Holiness had suffered …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

Wherefore Christ Undertook a Method of Setting us Free So Painful and Laborious, when a Word from Him, or an Act of his Will, Would Alone
Wherefore Christ undertook a method of setting us free so painful and laborious, when a word from Him, or an act of His will, would alone have sufficed. 19. Then he labours to teach and persuade us that the devil could not and ought not to have claimed for himself any right over man, except by the permission of God, and that, without doing any injustice to the devil, God could have called back His deserter, if He wished to show him mercy, and have rescued him by a word only, as though any one denies …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

"Boast not Thyself of To-Morrow, for Thou Knowest not what a Day May Bring Forth. "
Prov. xxvii. 1.--"Boast not thyself of to-morrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth." There are some peculiar gifts that God hath given to man in his first creation, and endued his nature with, beyond other living creatures, which being rightly ordered and improved towards the right objects, do advance the soul of man to a wonderful height of happiness, that no other sublunary creature is capable of. But by reason of man's fall into sin, these are quite disordered and turned out of …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Love in the Old Covenant.
"A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another."-- John xiii. 34. In connection with the Holy Spirit's work of shedding abroad the love of God in our hearts, the question arises: What is the meaning of Christ's word, "A new commandment I give unto you"? How can He designate this natural injunction, "To love one another," a new commandment? This offers no difficulty to those who entertain the erroneous view that during His ministry on earth Christ established a new and higher religion, …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

The Old Testament Canon from Its Beginning to Its Close.
The first important part of the Old Testament put together as a whole was the Pentateuch, or rather, the five books of Moses and Joshua. This was preceded by smaller documents, which one or more redactors embodied in it. The earliest things committed to writing were probably the ten words proceeding from Moses himself, afterwards enlarged into the ten commandments which exist at present in two recensions (Exod. xx., Deut. v.) It is true that we have the oldest form of the decalogue from the Jehovist …
Samuel Davidson—The Canon of the Bible

How the Silent and the Talkative are to be Admonished.
(Admonition 15.) Differently to be admonished are the over-silent, and those who spend time in much speaking. For it ought to be insinuated to the over-silent that while they shun some vices unadvisedly, they are, without its being perceived, implicated in worse. For often from bridling the tongue overmuch they suffer from more grievous loquacity in the heart; so that thoughts seethe the more in the mind from being straitened by the violent guard of indiscreet silence. And for the most part they …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

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