Proverbs 27
1 Do not boast about [what you will do] tomorrow, because you do not know what will happen [PRS] on any day.
Don’t boast about tomorrow; for you don’t know what a day may bring.
2 Do not praise yourself [MTY, PRS]; allow others to praise you. If someone else praises you, that is okay.
Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your 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 a burden; but a fool’s provocation 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 hidden love.
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.
The wounds of a friend are faithful, although 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.
A full soul loathes a honeycomb; but to a 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 home.
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].
Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart; so does earnest counsel from a man’s friend.
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.
Don’t forsake your friend and your father’s friend. Don’t go to your brother’s house in the day of your disaster. A neighbor who is near is better than a distant brother.
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 bring joy to my heart, then I can answer my tormentor.
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 danger and takes refuge; 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 when he puts up collateral for a stranger. Hold it for a wayward 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 neighbor with a loud voice early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse by 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 on a rainy day 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.
restraining her is like restraining the wind, or like grasping oil in his right hand.
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 his friend’s countenance.
18 Those who take care of fig trees will have figs to eat; [similarly], servants who protect their master will be honored [by him].
Whoever tends the fig tree shall eat its fruit. He who looks after 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.
Like water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the 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 a man’s eyes 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 crucible is for silver, and the furnace for gold; but man is refined 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 you grind a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with grain, yet his foolishness will not be removed from him.
23 Take good care of your flocks of sheep and herds of cattle,
Know well the state of your flocks, and pay attention to your 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, nor 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 removed, and the new growth appears, the grasses of the hills 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 your clothing, and the goats are the price of a field.
27 and you will get enough milk from the [other] goats for you and your family and your female servants.
There will be plenty of goats’ milk for your food, for your family’s food, and for the nourishment of your servant girls.
