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 to-morrow; For thou knowest 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 sand is weighty; But a fool's wrath 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 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 kept concealed.
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 deceitful.
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.
He who is fed to the full loatheth the honeycomb; But to the hungry any 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 wandereth from its nest, So is a man who wandereth 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 gladden the heart; Sweet also is one'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.
Thine own friend and thy father's friend forsake not; And go not into thy brother's house in the day of thy calamity. Better is a neighbor that is near, 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].
Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad, That I may give an answer to him that reproacheth 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 foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; The simple pass on, and are punished.
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 another; Yea, take a pledge of him who is bound for a stranger.
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 blesseth his neighbor with a loud voice, rising early for it, It shall be accounted to him as a curse.
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 quarrelsome wife 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 restraineth her restraineth the wind; And his right hand layeth hold of 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 sharpeneth iron; So one man sharpeneth the face of another.
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 that watcheth the fig-tree shall eat its fruit; So he that is careful for his master shall come to honor.
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 answereth to face, So doth the heart of man to 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)
The realms of the dead are never full; So 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; So let a man be to the mouth that giveth him 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 shouldst beat a fool in a mortar, Among bruised wheat, with a pestle, Yet will not his folly 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 last not for ever; Not even a crown endureth from generation to generation.
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 disappeareth, and the tender grass showeth itself, And the herbage of the mountains is 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 thy clothing, And the goats the price of thy field.
27 and you will get enough milk from the [other] goats for you and your family and your female servants.
There is goat's milk enough for thy food, For the food of thy household, And for the sustenance of thy maidens.
