Proverbs 27
1 Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what the future day may bring.
Do not boast about tomorrow, For you do not know what a day brings forth.
2 Let another praise you, and not your own mouth: an outsider, and not your own lips.
Let another praise you, and not your own mouth, A stranger, and not your own lips.
3 A stone is weighty, and sand is burdensome; but the wrath of the foolish is heavier than both.
A stone [is] heavy, and the sand [is] heavy, And the anger of a fool Is heavier than them both.
4 Anger holds no mercy, nor does fury when it erupts. And who can bear the assault of one who has been provoked?
Fury [is] fierce, and anger [is] overflowing, And who stands before jealousy?
5 An open rebuke is better than hidden love.
Better [is] open reproof than hidden love.
6 The wounds of a loved one are better than the deceitful kisses of a hateful one.
The wounds of a lover are faithful, And the kisses of an enemy [are] abundant.
7 A sated soul will trample the honeycomb. And a hungry soul will accept even bitter in place of sweet.
A satiated soul treads down a honeycomb, And every bitter thing [is] sweet [to] a hungry soul.
8 Just like a bird migrating from her nest, so also is a man who abandons his place.
As a bird wandering from her nest, So [is] a man wandering from his place.
9 Ointment and various perfumes delight the heart. And the good advice of a friend is sweet to the soul.
Perfume and incense make the heart glad, And the sweetness of one’s friend—from counsel of 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 forsake your own friend and the friend of your father, And do not enter the house of your brother in a day of your calamity, A near neighbor [is] better 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.
Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad, And I return a word [to] my reproacher.
12 The discerning man, seeing evil, hides himself. The little ones, continuing on, sustain losses.
The prudent has seen the evil, he is hidden, The simple have passed on, they are punished.
13 Take away the garment of him who has vouched for an outsider. And take a pledge from him on behalf of foreigners.
Take his garment when a stranger has been guarantor, And pledge it for a strange woman.
14 Whoever blesses his neighbor with a grand voice, rising in the night, shall be like one who curses.
Whoever is greeting his friend with a loud voice, Rising early in the morning, It is reckoned a light thing to him.
15 A roof leaking on a cold day, and an argumentative woman, are comparable.
A continual dropping in a day of rain, And a woman of contentions are alike,
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.
Whoever is hiding her has hidden the wind, And the ointment of his right hand calls out.
17 Iron sharpens iron, and a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.
Iron is sharpened by iron, And a man sharpens the face of his friend.
18 Whoever maintains the fig tree shall eat its fruit. And whoever is the keeper of his master shall be glorified.
The keeper of a fig tree eats its fruit, And the preserver of his master is honored.
19 In the manner of faces looking into shining water, so are the hearts of men made manifest to the prudent.
As [in] water the face [is] to face, So the heart of man to man.
Sheol and destruction are not satisfied, And the eyes of man are not satisfied. (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.
A refining pot [is] for silver, and a furnace for gold, And a man according to his praise.
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.
If you beat the foolish in a mortar, Among washed things—with a pestle, His folly does not turn aside from off him.
23 Be diligent to know the countenance of your cattle, and consider your own flocks,
Know the face of your flock well, Set your heart to the droves,
24 for you will not always hold this power. But a crown shall be awarded from generation to generation.
For riches [are] not for all time, Nor a crown to generation and generation.
25 The meadows are open, and the green plants have appeared, and the hay has been collected from the mountains.
The hay was revealed, and the tender grass seen, And the herbs of mountains gathered.
26 Lambs are for your clothing, and goats are for the price of a field.
Lambs [are] for your clothing, And the price of the field [are] male goats,
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.
And a sufficiency of goats’ milk [is] for your bread, For bread to your house, and life to your girls!
