603 verses about Friendship

There is that for bashfulness promises to his friend; And he makes him his enemy for nothing.

Talk not much with a foolish man, And go not to one that has no understanding: Beware of him, lest you have trouble; And so you shall not be defiled in his onslaught: Turn away from him, and you will find rest; And so you shall not be wearied in his madness.

Whoso casts a stone at birds frays them away; And he that upbraids a friend will dissolve friendship.

If you have drawn a sword against a friend, despair not; For there may be a returning.

If you have opened your mouth against a friend, fear not; For there may be a reconciling; Except it be for upbraiding, and arrogance, and disclosing of a secret, and a treacherous blow: For these things every friend will flee.

Gain trust with your neighbor in his poverty, That in his prosperity you may have gladness: Abide stedfast to him in the time of his affliction, That you may be heir with him in his inheritance.

I will not be ashamed to shelter a friend; And I will not hide myself from his face:

In three things I was beautified, And stood up beautiful before the Lord and men: The concord of kindred, and friendship of neighbors, And a woman and her husband that walk together in agreement.

Birds will resort to their like; And truth will return to those who practise her.

He that reveals secrets destroys credit, And will not find a friend to his mind.

Love a friend, and keep faith with him: But if you reveal his secrets, You shall not pursue after him;

For as a man has destroyed his enemy, So have you destroyed the friendship of your neighbor.

And as a bird which you have loosed out of your hand, So have you let your neighbor go, and you will not catch him again:

For a wound may be bound up, and after reviling there may be a reconcilement; But he that reveals secrets has lost hope.

And a man that is a sinner will trouble friends, And will make debate among those who are at peace.

Lose your money for a brother and a friend; And let it not rust under the stone to be lost.

Forget not the good offices of your surety; For he has given his life for you.

He that teaches his son shall provoke his enemy to jealousy; And before friends he shall rejoice of him.

He left behind him an avenger against his enemies, And one to requite kindness to his friends.

Laugh not with him, lest you have sorrow with him; And you shall gnash your teeth in the end.

Consider your neighbor’s liking by your own; And be discreet in every point.

Rebuke not your neighbor at a banquet of wine, Neither set him at nothing in his mirth: Speak not to him a word of reproach, And press not upon him by asking back a debt.

A stallion horse is as a mocking friend; He neighs under every one that sits upon him.

To son and wife, to brother and friend, Give not power over you while you live; And give not your goods to another, Lest you repent and make supplication for them again.

Every friend will say, I also am his friend: But there is a friend, which is only a friend in name.

Is there not a grief in it even to death, When a companion and friend is turned to enmity?

There is a companion, which rejoices in the gladness of a friend, But in time of affliction will be against him.

There is a companion, which for the belly’s sake labores with his friend, In the face of battle will take up the buckler.

Forget not a friend in your soul; And be not unmindful of him in your riches.

Take not counsel with one that looks askance at you; And hide your counsel from such as are jealous of you.

But rather be continually with a godly man, Whom you shall have known to be a keeper of the commandments, Who in his soul is as your own soul, And who will grieve with you, if you shall miscarry.

A friend and a companion never meet amiss; And a wife with her husband is above both.

Brethren and succour are for a time of affliction; And almsgiving is a deliverer above both.

Of an offence before a judge and ruler; Of iniquity before the congregation and the people; Of unjust dealing before a partner and friend;

Of being over busy with his maid; and come not near her bed; Of upbraiding speeches before friends; And after you have given, upbraid not;

Of reckoning with a partner and with travellers; And of a gift from the heritage of friends;

Therefore her friends and all that saw her wept.

And Daniel lived with the king, and was honored above all his friends.

And he called his servants, which were honorable, which had been brought up with him from his youth, and he divided to them his kingdom, while he was yet alive.

now therefore come you first and do the commandment of the king, as all the nations have done, and the men of Judah, and those who remain in Jerusalem: and you and your house shall be in the number of the king’s Friends, and you and your sons shall be honored with silver and gold and many gifts.

And Lysias chose Ptolemy the son of Dorymenes, and Nicanor, and Gorgias, mighty men of the king’s Friends;

and they met with the Nabathaeans, and these met them in a peaceful manner, and told them all things that had befallen their kindred in the land of Gilead:

And he called for all his Friends, and said to them, Sleep departs from my eyes, and my heart fails for care.

And he called for Philip, one of his Friends, and set him over all his kingdom,

And when the king heard this, he was angry, and gathered together all his Friends, even the rulers of his army, and those who were over the horse.

And he spoke with them words of peace, and sware to them, saying, We will seek the hurt neither of you nor your friends.

And Judas heard of the fame of the Romans, that they are valiant men, and have pleasure in all that join themselves to them, and make amity with all such as come to them,

but with their friends and such as relied upon them they kept amity; and they conquered the kingdoms that were near and those that were far off, and all that heard of their fame were afraid of them:

And Judas chose Eupolemus the son of John, the son of Accos, and Jason the son of Eleazar, and sent them to Rome, to make a league of amity and confederacy with them,

Judas, who is also called Maccabaeus, and his kindred, and the people of the Jews, have sent us to you, to make a confederacy and peace with you, and that we might be registered your confederates and friends.

the nation of the Jews shall help them as confederates, as the occasion shall prescribe to them, with all their heart:

And as touching the evils which king Demetrius does to them, we have written to him, saying, Wherefore have you made your yoke heavy upon our friends and confederates the Jews?

And all the friends of Judas were gathered together, and they said to Jonathan,

And Jonathan sent his brother, a leader of the multitude, and implored his friends the Nabathaeans, that they might leave with them their baggage, which was much.

and they lifted up their eyes, and saw, and, behold, a great ado and much baggage: and the bridegroom came forth, and his friends and his kindred, to meet them with timbrels, and minstrels, and many weapons.

And he said, Shall we find such another man? and now we will make him our Friend and confederate.

We have heard of you, that you are a mighty man of valour, and meet to be our Friend.

And now we have appointed you this day to be high priest of your nation, and to be called the king’s Friend (and he sent to him a purple robe and a crown of gold), and to take our part, and to keep friendship with us.

What is this that we have done, that Alexander has been beforehand with us in establishing friendship with the Jews, to strengthen himself?

I also will write to them words of encouragement and of honor and of gifts, that they may be with me to aid me.

Forasmuch as you⌃ have kept your covenants with us, and continued in our friendship, and have not joined yourselves to our enemies, we have heard hereof, and are glad.

now also let us establish amity one with the other, and give me now your daughter to wife: and I will make affinity with you, and will give both you and her gifts worthy of you.

And he went with pomp to Ptolemais, and met the two kings, and gave them and their Friends silver and gold, and many gifts, and found favor in their sight.

And the king gave him honor, and wrote him among his Chief Friends, and made him a captain, and governor of a province.

And Jonathan met the king with pomp at Joppa, and they saluted one another, and they slept there.

and the king did to him even as his predecessors had done to him, and exalted him in the sight of all his Friends,

and confirmed to him the high priesthood, and all the other honors that he had before, and gave him preeminence among his Chief Friends.

We have determined to do good to the nation of the Jews, who are our friends, and observe what is just toward us, because of their good will toward us.

And the young Antiochus wrote to Jonathan, saying, I confirm to you the high priesthood, and appoint you over the four governments, and to be one of the king’s Friends.

And Jonathan went forth, and took his journey beyond the river and through the cities; and all the forces of Syria gathered themselves to him for to be his confederates. And he came to Ascalon, and they of the city met him honorably.

And Jonathan saw that the time served him, and he chose men, and sent them to Rome, to confirm and renew the friendship that they had with them.

And they went to Rome, and entered into the senate house, and said, Jonathan the high priest, and the nation of the Jews, have sent us, to renew for them the friendship and the confederacy, as in former time.

And this is the copy of the letters which Jonathan wrote to the Spartans:

Jonathan the high priest, and the senate of the nation, and the priests, and the rest of the people of the Jews, to their kindred the Spartans, greeting:

And Onias entreated honorably the man that was sent, and received the letters, wherein declaration was made of confederacy and friendship.

have assayed to send that we might renew our brotherhood and friendship with you, to the end that we should not become estranged from you altogether: for long time is passed since you⌃ sent to us.

We were not minded therefore to be troublesome to you, and to the rest of our confederates and friends, in these wars;

We chose therefore Numenius the son of Antiochus, and Antipater the son of Jason, and have sent them to the Romans, to renew the friendship that we had with them, and the former confederacy.

We commanded them therefore to go also to you, and to salute you, and to deliver you our letters concerning the renewing of friendship and our brotherhood.

And this is the copy of the letters which they sent to Onias:

Arius king of the Spartans to Onias the chief priest, greeting:

and now, since this is come to our knowledge, you⌃ shall do well to write to us of your prosperity.

And we moreover do write on our part to you, that your cattle and goods are ours, and ours are yours. We do command therefore that they make report to you on this wise.

and he received him honorably, and commended him to all his Friends, and gave him gifts, and commanded his forces to be obedient to him, as to himself.

And he said to Jonathan, Why have you put all this people to trouble, seeing there is no war between us?

King Demetrius to Simon the high priest and Friend of kings, and to the elders and nation of the Jews, greeting:

they wrote to him on tables of brass, to renew with him the friendship and the confederacy which they had confirmed with Judas and Jonathan his kindred;

And this is the copy of the letters which the Spartans sent: The rulers of the Spartans, and the city, to Simon the high priest, and to the elders, and the priests, and the residue of the people of the Jews, our kindred, greeting:

The ambassadors that were sent to our people made report to us of your glory and honor: and we were glad for their coming,

and we did register the things that were spoken by them in the public records after this manner: Numenius son of Antiochus, and Antipater son of Jason, the Jews’ ambassadors, came to us to renew the friendship they had with us.

and made him one of his Friends, and honored him with great honor;

for he had heard say, that the Jews had been called by the Romans friends and confederates and kindred, and that they had met the ambassadors of Simon honorably;

The Jews’ ambassadors came to us as our friends and confederates, to renew the old friendship and confederacy, being sent from Simon the high priest, and from the people of the Jews:

And Athenobius the king’s Friend came to Jerusalem; and he saw the glory of Simon, and the cupboard of gold and silver vessels, and his great attendance, and he was amazed; and he reported to him the king’s words.

For Antiochus, on the pretense that he would marry her, came into the place, he and his Friends that were with him, that they might take a great part of the treasures in name of a dowry.

But quickly certain of Heliodorus’s familiar friends implored Onias to call upon the Most High, and grant life to him who lay quite at the last gasp.

And setting aside the royal ordinances of special favor to the Jews, granted by the means of John the father of Eupolemus, who went on the ambassage to the Romans for friendship and alliance, and seeking to overthrow the lawful modes of life, he brought in new customs forbidden by the law:

But those who had the charge of that forbidden sacrificial feast took the man aside, for the acquaintance which of old times they had with him, and privately implored him to bring flesh of his own providing, such as was befitting for him to use, and to make as if he did eat of the flesh from the sacrifice, as had been commanded by the king;

that by so doing he might be delivered from death, and for his ancient friendship with them might be treated kindly.

But Antiochus, thinking himself to be despised, and suspecting the reproachful voice, while the youngest was yet alive did not only make his appeal to him by words, but also at the same time promised with oaths that he would enrich him and raise him to high estate, if he would turn from the customs of his fathers, and that he would take him for his Friend and intrust him with affairs.