Proverbs 27
1 Do not boast about [what you will do] tomorrow, because you do not know what will happen [PRS] on any day.
Boast not thyself of tomorrow, for thou know not what a day may bring forth.
2 Do not praise yourself [MTY, PRS]; allow others to praise you. If someone else praises you, that is okay.
Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth, a stranger, and not thine own lips.
3 [It causes pain to our bodies to carry heavy] stones or [a pail full of] sand, but doing something stupid/foolish [can cause] great [pain to other people’s spirits.]
A stone is heavy, and the sand weighty, but a fool's vexation is heavier than both.
4 It is cruel to be angry [with others], and our being angry sometimes destroys [others], but being jealous of someone is [RHQ] often more cruel than that.
Wrath is cruel, and anger is overwhelming, but who is able to stand before jealousy?
5 It is better to correct someone openly than to show that you l don’t love that person [by not correcting him].
Better is open rebuke than love that is hidden.
6 If a friend criticizes you, [he is a good friend and] you can trust him; but if one of your enemies kisses you, he is [probably wanting to] deceive you.
Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are profuse.
7 When someone’s stomach is full, he does not want to eat honey; but when someone is [very] hungry, he thinks that [even] bitter things taste sweet.
The full soul loathes a honeycomb, but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.
8 Anyone who wanders [far] from his home/family is like [SIM] a bird that is far from its nest.
As a bird that wanders from her nest, so is a man who wanders from his place.
9 [Putting olive] oil and perfume on a person’s skin causes him to feel good, but having a friend [who gives] good advice [is even better].
Oil and perfume rejoice the heart, so too the sweetness of a man's friend by hearty counsel.
10 Do not neglect your friends or your parents’ friends; and at a time when you are experiencing a disaster, do not go to a relative [who lives far away to request his help]; someone who lives near you can help you more than relatives who live far away.
Forsake not thine own friend, and thy father's friend. And go not to thy brother's house in the day of thy calamity. Better is a neighbor nearby than a brother far off.
11 My child/son, cause me to be happy by becoming wise, in order that I will [know how to] reply to those who would criticize me [about your behavior].
My son, be wise, and make my heart glad, that I may answer him who reproaches me.
12 Those who have good sense will realize that there is something dangerous ahead, and they will hide; those who do not have good sense [just] keep going, and later they will suffer because of [doing] that.
A prudent man sees the evil, and hides himself. The simple pass on, and suffer for it.
13 [You deserve to] have your property taken from you if you [foolishly] promise to a stranger (OR, a strange woman) that you will pay what she owes if she is unable to pay it [DOU].
Take his garment who is surety for a stranger, and hold him in pledge who is surety for a strange woman.
14 If you rise early in the morning and call out a greeting to your neighbor [while he is still sleeping], he will consider it to be a curse, [not a blessing].
He who blesses his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, it shall be considered a curse to him.
15 [Having] a wife that is [constantly] nagging is as [bad as listening] to rain continually dripping on a rainy day.
A continual dropping in a very rainy day, and a contentious woman are alike.
16 [Trying] to restrain/stop her [from doing that] is as [difficult] [SIM] [as trying] to stop the wind or [trying] to hold oil in your hand.
He who would restrain her restrains the wind, and his right hand encounters oil.
17 [We can use one] iron tool to sharpen [another] iron [tool]; similarly [SIM], [when one person shares] what he is thinking, it can help other people [to think more clearly].
Iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.
18 Those who take care of fig trees will have figs to eat; [similarly], servants who protect their master will be honored [by him].
He who keeps the fig tree shall eat the fruit of it, and he who regards his master shall be honored.
19 [When a person looks] in the water, he sees his own face; similarly [SIM], [when we look at] a person’s behavior, we know what he is thinking.
As in water face is to face, so the heart of a man is to a man.
20 [It is as though] the place where the dead people are is always wanting more people to [die and] come there; and humans [SYN] are always wanting to acquire more things, [too]. (Sheol h7585)
Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, and the eyes of man are never satisfied. (Sheol h7585)
21 [Workers put] silver and gold in a very hot furnace [to burn out what is impure], and [SIM] people learn [what we are really like when they see how we react when people] praise us.
The refining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold, and a man is tried by his praise.
22 Even if you beat/crush a fool severely [like] [MET] you pulverize grain with a pestle, you [probably] will not be able to cause him to stop (being foolish/doing foolish things).
Though thou should pound a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain, yet his foolishness will not depart from him.
23 Take good care of your flocks of sheep and herds of cattle,
Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds.
24 because the money [that you acquired from selling animals previously] will not (last/stay with you) forever; similarly [SIM], governments [MTY] certainly do not [RHQ] last forever.
For riches are not forever. And does the crown endure to all generations?
25 After you cut the hay [DOU] and [store it to feed the animals in the winter while] a new crop of hay is growing,
The hay is carried, and the tender grass shows itself, and the herbs of the mountains are gathered in.
26 you will be able to [shear the sheep and] make clothes from the wool, and you will get money from selling [some of] the goats to buy [more] land,
The lambs are for thy clothing, and the goats are the cost of the field.
27 and you will get enough milk from the [other] goats for you and your family and your female servants.
And then will be goats' milk enough for thy food; for the food of thy household, and maintenance for thy maidens.
