Single lesson
Proverbs 27: Do Not Boast about Tomorrow
Proverbs 27:1–27
Proverbs 27 gathers short wisdom sayings that compare different voices and habits. In this lesson, children hear how the chapter warns against proud self-talk, values honest friendship, and encourages careful, steady living.
Before you teach
This chapter is a collection of sayings in Proverbs 27:1–27. It moves through several comparisons: boasting and praise, anger and jealousy, friendship and correction, prudence and danger, speech and character, and daily care for flocks and food. Together, these sayings teach practical wisdom for ordinary life.
Students will be able to identify two contrasts in Proverbs 27 and explain that the chapter teaches humble, truthful, and careful living instead of proud or careless living.
Welcome: What kind of words help us live wisely?
4 minInvite children to listen for comparisons in this chapter. Explain that Proverbs often teaches by placing one way beside another. Start with Proverbs 27:1–2, where children hear a warning against boasting about tomorrow and praising ourselves. Ask them to notice that we do not know what a day may bring, so wise people speak humbly.
Proverbs 27:1, Proverbs 27:2
Read and explain: Honest friends and careful people
8 minRead Proverbs 27:5–6, 27:9, 27:12, and 27:17 aloud. Explain simple phrases: open rebuke means honest correction, faithful wounds means a true friend may say something hard but helpful, and prudent means someone who notices danger and takes refuge. These sayings show that wise friendship is honest, encouraging, and alert.
Proverbs 27:5, Proverbs 27:6, Proverbs 27:9, Proverbs 27:12, Proverbs 27:17
Discuss: What voices should we trust?
6 minTalk through more examples from the chapter. Proverbs 27:14 shows that even words that sound like a blessing can be badly timed. Proverbs 27:19–21 turns attention to the heart, the eyes, and praise. Help children compare outside words with inside character, and consider how praise can test what a person loves.
Proverbs 27:14, Proverbs 27:19, Proverbs 27:20, Proverbs 27:21
Make and respond: Reminder card from a key verse
8 minLet each child choose one key verse from the chapter, such as Proverbs 27:1, 27:12, or 27:17. Children write the verse reference and draw a simple picture showing its meaning, such as a calendar for tomorrow, a shelter for refuge, or two tools sharpening each other. Briefly share how the picture matches the proverb.
Proverbs 27:1, Proverbs 27:12, Proverbs 27:17
Closing: Steady care for daily life
4 minFinish with Proverbs 27:23–27. Explain that these sayings picture careful attention to everyday responsibilities because riches do not last forever. Wisdom is not only about speaking well. It also includes paying attention, working steadily, and providing for others. Review the chapter’s central pattern of humble words, wise friends, and careful living.
Proverbs 27:23, Proverbs 27:24, Proverbs 27:25, Proverbs 27:26, Proverbs 27:27
Questions to explore
Why does Proverbs 27:1 say not to boast about tomorrow?
Guide children to answer from the verse itself: we do not know what a day may bring, so wise speech is humble rather than proud.
Proverbs 27:1
How are open rebuke and faithful wounds described as better than hidden love or an enemy’s kisses?
Help children compare the pairs in the text and see that truthful correction from a friend is presented as reliable, even when it is hard to hear.
Proverbs 27:5, Proverbs 27:6
What does the chapter show about wise living besides words?
Point children to the prudent person taking refuge and the shepherd paying attention to flocks, showing that wisdom includes noticing, preparing, and caring well.
Proverbs 27:12, Proverbs 27:23, Proverbs 27:24
Make, think or respond
Proverbs Reminder Card
What you’ll need
- plain card or paper
- pencils or textas
- Bible text
- coloured pencils
Try it together
- Read three possible key verses together: Proverbs 27:1, Proverbs 27:12, and Proverbs 27:17.
- Ask each child to choose one verse and copy the reference onto a small card or folded paper.
- Have them draw one simple picture that matches the proverb’s main idea.
- Invite each child to explain in one sentence how the picture connects to the verse.
- Place the cards where children can review the wisdom saying later.
This activity helps children focus on one proverb from the chapter and connect its picture language to the chapter’s teaching about humility, wise friendship, and careful living.
Adapt for your group
- For younger children, offer only two verse choices and let them explain the picture orally instead of writing a sentence.
- For older or stronger readers, ask them to compare two sayings from the chapter and explain how both support the same wisdom theme.
An optional closing prayer
Dear God, please help us speak humbly, listen to honest correction, and live wisely in the things we do each day. Amen.
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
Proverbs 27
1 Don’t boast about tomorrow; for you don’t know what a day may bring.
2 Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.
3 A stone is heavy, and sand is a burden; but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both.
4 Wrath is cruel, and anger is overwhelming; but who is able to stand before jealousy?
5 Better is open rebuke than hidden love.
6 The wounds of a friend are faithful, although the kisses of an enemy are profuse.
7 A full soul loathes a honeycomb; but to a hungry soul, every bitter thing is sweet.
8 As a bird that wanders from her nest, so is a man who wanders from his home.
9 Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart; so does earnest counsel from a man’s friend.
10 Don’t forsake your friend and your father’s friend. Don’t go to your brother’s house in the day of your disaster. A neighbor who is near is better than a distant brother.
11 Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart, then I can answer my tormentor.
12 A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge; but the simple pass on, and suffer for it.
13 Take his garment when he puts up collateral for a stranger. Hold it for a wayward woman!
14 He who blesses his neighbor with a loud voice early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse by him.
15 A continual dropping on a rainy day and a contentious wife are alike:
16 restraining her is like restraining the wind, or like grasping oil in his right hand.
17 Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens his friend’s countenance.
18 Whoever tends the fig tree shall eat its fruit. He who looks after his master shall be honored.
19 Like water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man.
20 Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied; and a man’s eyes are never satisfied.
21 The crucible is for silver, and the furnace for gold; but man is refined by his praise.
22 Though you grind a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with grain, yet his foolishness will not be removed from him.
23 Know well the state of your flocks, and pay attention to your herds,
24 for riches are not forever, nor does the crown endure to all generations.
25 The hay is removed, and the new growth appears, the grasses of the hills are gathered in.
26 The lambs are for your clothing, and the goats are the price of a field.
27 There will be plenty of goats’ milk for your food, for your family’s food, and for the nourishment of your servant girls.
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.