Proverbs 27:17-23

¹⁷Iron is whetted by iron; and a man whetteth the face of his friend. (Iron is sharpened by iron; and a man sharpeneth his friend’s mind.)

¹⁸He that keepeth a fig tree (safe), shall eat the fruits thereof; and he that is a keeper of his lord, shall be glorified. (He who keepeth a fig tree safe, shall eat its fruits; and he who keepeth his lord safe, shall be honoured.)

¹⁹As the cheers of men beholding (themselves) shine in waters; so the hearts of men be open to prudent men. (Like the faces of people beholding themselves shine in the water; so people’s hearts be open to prudent people.)

²⁰Hell and perdition shall not be filled; so and the eyes of men be not able to be (ful)filled. (Sheol, or the land of the dead, and perdition, or Hell and perdition, shall never be filled full; and the eyes, or the appetites, of people shall never be fulfilled, or satisfied.)

²¹As silver is proved in a welling place, and gold is proved in a furnace; so a man is proved by the mouth of his praisers (or so a person is proved, or assayed, by the words of his praisers).

²²Though thou poundedest a fool in a mortar, as with a pestle smiting above dried barley (or like pounding dried barley with a pestle), his folly shall not be done away from him.

²³Know thou diligently the cheer of thy beast; and behold thou thy flocks. (Diligently know the faces of thy beasts; and keep watch thou over thy flocks.)