מִשְׁלֵי 27
| אל תתהלל ביום מחר כי לא תדע מה ילד יום׃ | 1 |
Do not boast about [what you will do] tomorrow, because you do not know what will happen [PRS] on any day.
| יהללך זר ולא פיך נכרי ואל שפתיך׃ | 2 |
Do not praise yourself [MTY, PRS]; allow others to praise you. If someone else praises you, that is okay.
| כבד אבן ונטל החול וכעס אויל כבד משניהם׃ | 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.]
| אכזריות חמה ושטף אף ומי יעמד לפני קנאה׃ | 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.
| טובה תוכחת מגלה מאהבה מסתרת׃ | 5 |
It is better to correct someone openly than to show that you l don’t love that person [by not correcting him].
| נאמנים פצעי אוהב ונעתרות נשיקות שונא׃ | 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.
| נפש שבעה תבוס נפת ונפש רעבה כל מר מתוק׃ | 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.
| כצפור נודדת מן קנה כן איש נודד ממקומו׃ | 8 |
Anyone who wanders [far] from his home/family is like [SIM] a bird that is far from its nest.
| שמן וקטרת ישמח לב ומתק רעהו מעצת נפש׃ | 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].
| רעך ורעה אביך אל תעזב ובית אחיך אל תבוא ביום אידך טוב שכן קרוב מאח רחוק׃ | 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.
| חכם בני ושמח לבי ואשיבה חרפי דבר׃ | 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].
| ערום ראה רעה נסתר פתאים עברו נענשו׃ | 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.
| קח בגדו כי ערב זר ובעד נכריה חבלהו׃ | 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].
| מברך רעהו בקול גדול בבקר השכים קללה תחשב לו׃ | 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].
| דלף טורד ביום סגריר ואשת מדונים נשתוה׃ | 15 |
[Having] a wife that is [constantly] nagging is as [bad as listening] to rain continually dripping on a rainy day.
| צפניה צפן רוח ושמן ימינו יקרא׃ | 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.
| ברזל בברזל יחד ואיש יחד פני רעהו׃ | 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].
| נצר תאנה יאכל פריה ושמר אדניו יכבד׃ | 18 |
Those who take care of fig trees will have figs to eat; [similarly], servants who protect their master will be honored [by him].
| כמים הפנים לפנים כן לב האדם לאדם׃ | 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.
| שאול ואבדה לא תשבענה ועיני האדם לא תשבענה׃ (Sheol h7585) | 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)
| מצרף לכסף וכור לזהב ואיש לפי מהללו׃ | 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.
| אם תכתוש את האויל במכתש בתוך הריפות בעלי לא תסור מעליו אולתו׃ | 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).
| ידע תדע פני צאנך שית לבך לעדרים׃ | 23 |
Take good care of your flocks of sheep and herds of cattle,
| כי לא לעולם חסן ואם נזר לדור דור׃ | 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.
| גלה חציר ונראה דשא ונאספו עשבות הרים׃ | 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,
| כבשים ללבושך ומחיר שדה עתודים׃ | 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,
| ודי חלב עזים ללחמך ללחם ביתך וחיים לנערותיך׃ | 27 |
and you will get enough milk from the [other] goats for you and your family and your female servants.
