Proverbs 27
1 Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what the future day may bring.
Do not make a noise about tomorrow, for you are not certain what a day's outcome may be.
2 Let another praise you, and not your own mouth: an outsider, and not your own lips.
Let another man give you praise, and not your mouth; one who is strange to you, and not your lips.
3 A stone is weighty, and sand is burdensome; but the wrath of the foolish is heavier than both.
A stone has great weight, and sand is crushing; but the wrath of the foolish is of greater weight than these.
4 Anger holds no mercy, nor does fury when it erupts. And who can bear the assault of one who has been provoked?
Wrath is cruel, and angry feeling an overflowing stream; but who does not give way before envy?
5 An open rebuke is better than hidden love.
Better is open protest than love kept secret.
6 The wounds of a loved one are better than the deceitful kisses of a hateful one.
The wounds of a friend are given in good faith, but the kisses of a hater are false.
7 A sated soul will trample the honeycomb. And a hungry soul will accept even bitter in place of sweet.
The full man has no use for honey, but to the man in need of food every bitter thing is sweet.
8 Just like a bird migrating from her nest, so also is a man who abandons his place.
Like a bird wandering from the place of her eggs is a man wandering from his station.
9 Ointment and various perfumes delight the heart. And the good advice of a friend is sweet to the soul.
Oil and perfume make glad the heart, and the wise suggestion of a friend is sweet to the soul.
10 Do not dismiss your friend or your father’s friend. And do not enter your brother’s house in the day of your affliction. A close neighbor is better than a distant brother.
Do not give up your friend and your father's friend; and do not go into your brother's house in the day of your trouble: better is a neighbour who is near than a brother far off.
11 My son, study wisdom, and rejoice my heart, so that you may be able to respond to the one who reproaches.
My son, be wise and make my heart glad, so that I may give back an answer to him who puts me to shame.
12 The discerning man, seeing evil, hides himself. The little ones, continuing on, sustain losses.
The sharp man sees the evil and takes cover: the simple go straight on and get into trouble.
13 Take away the garment of him who has vouched for an outsider. And take a pledge from him on behalf of foreigners.
Take a man's clothing if he makes himself responsible for a strange man, and get an undertaking from him who gives his word for strange men.
14 Whoever blesses his neighbor with a grand voice, rising in the night, shall be like one who curses.
He who gives a blessing to his friend with a loud voice, getting up early in the morning, will have it put to his account as a curse.
15 A roof leaking on a cold day, and an argumentative woman, are comparable.
Like an unending dropping on a day of rain is a bitter-tongued woman.
16 He who would restrain her, he is like one who would grasp the wind, or who would gather together oil with his right hand.
He who keeps secret the secret of his friend, will get himself a name for good faith.
17 Iron sharpens iron, and a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.
Iron makes iron sharp; so a man makes sharp his friend.
18 Whoever maintains the fig tree shall eat its fruit. And whoever is the keeper of his master shall be glorified.
Whoever keeps a fig-tree will have its fruit; and the servant waiting on his master will be honoured.
19 In the manner of faces looking into shining water, so are the hearts of men made manifest to the prudent.
Like face looking at face in water, so are the hearts of men to one another.
The underworld and Abaddon are never full, and the eyes of man have never enough. (Sheol h7585)
21 In the manner of silver being tested in the refinery, and gold in the furnace, so also is a man tested by the mouth of one who praises. The heart of the iniquitous inquires after evils, but the heart of the righteous inquires after knowledge.
The heating-pot is for silver and the oven-fire for gold, and a man is measured by what he is praised for.
22 Even if you were to crush the foolish with a mortar, as when a pestle strikes over pearled barley, his foolishness would not be taken from him.
Even if a foolish man is crushed with a hammer in a vessel among crushed grain, still his foolish ways will not go from him.
23 Be diligent to know the countenance of your cattle, and consider your own flocks,
Take care to have knowledge about the condition of your flocks, looking well after your herds;
24 for you will not always hold this power. But a crown shall be awarded from generation to generation.
For wealth is not for ever, and money does not go on for all generations.
25 The meadows are open, and the green plants have appeared, and the hay has been collected from the mountains.
The grass comes up and the young grass is seen, and the mountain plants are got in.
26 Lambs are for your clothing, and goats are for the price of a field.
The lambs are for your clothing, and the he-goats make the value of a field:
27 Let the milk of goats be sufficient for your food, and for the necessities of your household, and for the provisions of your handmaids.
There will be goats' milk enough for your food, and for the support of your servant-girls.
