Proverbs 27
1 Do not boast about [what you will do] tomorrow, because you do not know what will happen [PRS] on any day.
Do not boast 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 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.]
Heavy is a stone, and weighty is sand, —but, the vexation of a fool, 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.
The cruelty of rage, and the overflow of anger! But who can 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 a rebuke that is open, than love carefully 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 lavished are the kisses of an enemy.
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 surfeited soul, trampleth upon droppings from the comb, 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 wandering from her nest, so, is a man wandering 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, the sweetness of one’s friend, more than fragrant wood.
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, do not thou forsake; but, the house of thy brother, do not enter, in thy day of calamity, Better a neighbour 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 rejoice my heart, that I may answer him that reproacheth me in a matter.
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 calamity—he hideth himself, the simple, pass on—they suffer.
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 a man’s garment when he hath become pledge for a stranger, then, for a female unknown, accept him as surety.
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, in the morning early, a reproach, shall it be reckoned to him.
15 [Having] a wife that is [constantly] nagging is as [bad as listening] to rain continually dripping on a rainy day.
A continuous dripping on a day of downpour, and a contentious 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 that hideth her, hideth the wind, and, perfume, his right hand may proclaim.
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].
Let, iron, by iron, become sharp, and let, a man, sharpen the face 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 that guardeth the fig-tree, shall eat the fruit thereof, and, he that watcheth over 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)
Hades and destruction, are not satisfied, and, the eyes of a man, are not 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.
Fining pot for silver, and crucible for gold, and, a man, [is to be tried] by what he praiseth.
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 pound a fool in a mortar, amidst grain, with a pestle, his folly, will not depart from him.
23 Take good care of your flocks of sheep and herds of cattle,
Note well, the appearance of thy flock, apply thy mind 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, not age-abiding, are riches, nor is the diadem, 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 grass, is taken away, and the young shoot, showeth itself, and the herbage of the mountains, is gathered;
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,
There are, lambs, for thy clothing, and, for the price of thy field, there are he-goats;
27 and you will get enough milk from the [other] goats for you and your family and your female servants.
With, enough goats-milk, for thy food—for the food of thy household, and, a maintenance, for thy maidens.
