Proverbs 27
1 Do not boast about tomorrow, For you do not know what a day brings forth.
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, A stranger, 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] heavy, and the sand [is] heavy, And the anger of a fool Is heavier than them both.
A stone has great weight, and sand is crushing; but the wrath of the foolish is of greater weight than these.
4 Fury [is] fierce, and anger [is] overflowing, And who stands before jealousy?
Wrath is cruel, and angry feeling an overflowing stream; but who does not give way before envy?
5 Better [is] open reproof than hidden love.
Better is open protest than love kept secret.
6 The wounds of a lover are faithful, And the kisses of an enemy [are] abundant.
The wounds of a friend are given in good faith, but the kisses of a hater are false.
7 A satiated soul treads down a honeycomb, And every bitter thing [is] sweet [to] a hungry soul.
The full man has no use for honey, but to the man in need of food every bitter thing is sweet.
8 As a bird wandering from her nest, So [is] a man wandering from his place.
Like a bird wandering from the place of her eggs is a man wandering from his station.
9 Perfume and incense make the heart glad, And the sweetness of one’s friend—from counsel of the soul.
Oil and perfume make glad the heart, and the wise suggestion of a friend is sweet to the soul.
10 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.
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 Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad, And I return a word [to] my reproacher.
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 prudent has seen the evil, he is hidden, The simple have passed on, they are punished.
The sharp man sees the evil and takes cover: the simple go straight on and get into trouble.
13 Take his garment when a stranger has been guarantor, And pledge it for a strange woman.
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 is greeting his friend with a loud voice, Rising early in the morning, It is reckoned a light thing to him.
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 continual dropping in a day of rain, And a woman of contentions are alike,
Like an unending dropping on a day of rain is a bitter-tongued woman.
16 Whoever is hiding her has hidden the wind, And the ointment of his right hand calls out.
He who keeps secret the secret of his friend, will get himself a name for good faith.
17 Iron is sharpened by iron, And a man sharpens the face of his friend.
Iron makes iron sharp; so a man makes sharp his friend.
18 The keeper of a fig tree eats its fruit, And the preserver of his master is honored.
Whoever keeps a fig-tree will have its fruit; and the servant waiting on his master will be honoured.
19 As [in] water the face [is] to face, So the heart of man to man.
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 A refining pot [is] for silver, and a furnace for gold, And a man according to his praise.
The heating-pot is for silver and the oven-fire for gold, and a man is measured by what he is praised for.
22 If you beat the foolish in a mortar, Among washed things—with a pestle, His folly does not turn aside from off 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 Know the face of your flock well, Set your heart to the droves,
Take care to have knowledge about the condition of your flocks, looking well after your herds;
24 For riches [are] not for all time, Nor a crown to generation and generation.
For wealth is not for ever, and money does not go on for all generations.
25 The hay was revealed, and the tender grass seen, And the herbs of mountains gathered.
The grass comes up and the young grass is seen, and the mountain plants are got in.
26 Lambs [are] for your clothing, And the price of the field [are] male goats,
The lambs are for your clothing, and the he-goats make the value of a field:
27 And a sufficiency of goats’ milk [is] for your bread, For bread to your house, and life to your girls!
There will be goats' milk enough for your food, and for the support of your servant-girls.
