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 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 the sand weighty; but a fool’s vexation is heavier than them 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 outrageous; 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 loatheth an 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 wandereth from her nest, so is a man that 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].
Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man’s friend [that cometh] of 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 to thy brother’s house in the day of thy calamity: better is a neighbour 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].
My son, be wise, and make my heart glad, that I may answer 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 seeth the evil, [and] hideth himself: [but] 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 that is surety for a stranger; and hold him in pledge [that 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 that blesseth his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, it shall be counted 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 that would restrain her restraineth the wind, and his right hand encountereth 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 a man sharpeneth 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].
Whoso keepeth the fig tree shall eat the fruit thereof; and he that waiteth on his master shall be honoured.
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 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)
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 fining 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 shouldest bray a fool in a mortar with a pestle among bruised corn, yet will not his foolishness 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 for ever; and doth the crown endure unto 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 sheweth 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 price of the field:
27 and you will get enough milk from the [other] goats for you and your family and your female servants.
And [there will be] goats’ milk enough for thy food, for the food of thy household; and maintenance for thy maidens.
