Proverbs by theme
Friends
Friends, neighbors, and the company you keep.
- 3:29-30Do not devise evil against your neighbor, for he trustfully dwells beside you. Do not accuse a man without cause, when he has done you no harm.
- 12:26A righteous man is cautious in friendship, but the ways of the wicked lead them astray.
- 13:20He who walks with the wise will become wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.
- 14:10The heart knows its own bitterness, and no stranger shares in its joy.
- 14:20The poor man is hated even by his neighbor, but many are those who love the rich.
- 15:17Better a dish of vegetables where there is love than a fattened ox with hatred.
- 17:9Whoever conceals an offense promotes love, but he who brings it up separates friends.
- 17:17A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
- 18:1He who isolates himself pursues selfish desires; he rebels against all sound judgment.
- 18:19An offended brother is harder to win than a fortified city, and disputes are like the bars of a castle.
- 18:24A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who stays closer than a brother.
- 19:4Wealth attracts many friends, but a poor man is deserted by his friend.
- 19:6Many seek the favor of the prince, and everyone is a friend of the gift giver.
- 19:7All the brothers of a poor man hate him—how much more do his friends avoid him! He may pursue them with pleading, but they are nowhere to be found.
- 20:6Many a man proclaims his loving devotion, but who can find a trustworthy man?
- 25:17Seldom set foot in your neighbor’s house, lest he grow weary and hate you.
- 25:19Like a broken tooth or a foot out of joint is confidence in a faithless man in time of trouble.
- 25:20Like one who removes a garment on a cold day or vinegar poured on a wound is one who sings songs to a heavy heart.
- 25:25Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land.
- 27:5Better an open rebuke than love that is concealed.
- 27:6The wounds of a friend are faithful, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.
- 27:9Oil and incense bring joy to the heart, and the counsel of a friend is sweetness to the soul.
- 27:10Do not forsake your friend or your father’s friend, and do not go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity; better a neighbor nearby than a brother far away.
- 27:14If one blesses his neighbor with a loud voice early in the morning, it will be counted to him as a curse.
- 27:17As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.