Proverbs on Friendships/Neighbors

Proverbs 3:27-28

Do not withhold good from those who deserve it when it’s in your power to help them. If you can help your neighbor now, don’t say, “Come back tomorrow, and then I will help you.”

Proverbs 3:29

Do not plot against your neighbors, for they trust you.

Proverbs 11:12

It is foolish to belittle a neighbor; a person with good sense remains silent.

Proverbs 12:26

The Godly give good advice to their friends; the wicked lead them astray.

Proverbs 17:9

Disregarding another person’s faults preserves love; telling about them separates close friends.

Proverbs 17:17

A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need.

Proverbs 18:24

There are “friends” who destroy each other, but a real friend sticks closer than a brother.

Proverbs 19:22

Loyalty makes a person attractive. And it is better to be poor than dishonest.

Proverbs 20:6

Many will say they are loyal friends, but who can find one who is really faithful?

Proverbs 22:24-25

Keep away from angry, short-tempered people, or you will learn to be like them and endanger your soul.

Proverbs 24:28-29

Do not testify spitefully against innocent neighbors; don’t lie about them and don’t say, “Now I can pay them back for all their meanness to me! I’ll get even!”

Proverbs 25:20

Singing cheerful songs to a person whose heart is heavy is as bad as stealing someone’s jacket in cold weather or rubbing salt in a wound.

Proverbs 26:18-19

Just as damaging as a mad man shooting a lethal weapon is someone who lies to a friend and then says, “I was only joking.”

Proverbs 27:5-6

An open rebuke is better than hidden love! Wounds from a friend are better than many kisses from an enemy.

Proverbs 27:9

The heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet as perfume and incense.

Proverbs 27:10

Never abandon a friend – either yours or your father’s. Then in your time of need, you won’t have to ask your relatives for assistance. It is better to go to a neighbor than a relative who lives far away.

Proverbs 27:14

If you shout a pleasant greeting to your neighbor too early in the morning, it will be counted as a curse!

Proverbs 27:17

As iron sharpens iron, a friend sharpens a friend.

Proverbs 28:23

In the end, people appreciate frankness more than flattery.

Proverbs 29:5

To flatter people [neighbors] is to lay a trap for their feet.