1Don’t boast about tomorrow. You don’t know what a day will bring.2Let another person praise you, and not your own mouth. Let an outsider praise you, and not your own lips.3Stones are heavy, and sand weighs a lot. But letting a foolish person make you angry is a heavier load than both of them.4Anger is mean, and great anger overpowers you. But who can face jealousy?5Being warned openly is better than being loved in secret.6Wounds from a friend can be trusted. But an enemy kisses you many times.7When you are full, you even hate honey. When you are hungry, even what is bitter tastes sweet.8Anyone who runs away from home is like a bird that flies away from its nest.9Perfume and incense bring joy to your heart. And the sweetness of a friend comes from their honest advice.10Don’t desert your friend or a friend of your family. And don’t go to your relative’s house when trouble strikes you. A neighbour nearby is better than a relative far away.11My son, be wise and bring joy to my heart. Then I can answer anyone who makes fun of me.12Wise people see danger and go to a safe place. But childish people keep on going and suffer for it.13Take the coat of one who puts up money for what a stranger owes. Hold it until you get paid back if it is done for an outsider.14Suppose you loudly bless your neighbour early in the morning. Then you might as well be cursing him.15A nagging wife is like the dripping of a leaky roof in a rainstorm.16Stopping her is like trying to stop the wind. It’s like trying to grab olive oil with your hand.17As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.18A person who guards a fig tree will eat its fruit. And a person who protects their master will be honoured.19When you look into water, you see a likeness of your face. When you look into your heart, you see what you are really like.20Death and the Grave are never satisfied. People’s eyes are never satisfied either.21Fire tests silver, and heat tests gold. But people are tested by the praise they receive.22Suppose you could grind a foolish person in a mill. Suppose you could grind them as you would grind corn with a tool. Even then you could not remove their foolishness from them.23Be sure you know how your flocks are doing. Pay careful attention to your herds.24Riches don’t last for ever. And a crown is not secure for all time to come.25The hay is removed, and new growth appears. The grass from the hills is gathered in.26Then your lambs will provide you with clothes. And the money from selling your goats will buy you a field.27You will have plenty of goats’ milk to feed your family. It will also feed your female servants.
Proverbs 27
English Standard Version
1Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring. (Lu 12:19; Jas 4:13)2Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips. (Pr 25:27; 2Co 10:12; 2Co 10:18; 2Co 12:11)3A stone is heavy, and sand is weighty, but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both. (Pr 12:16; Pr 17:12)4Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy? (Pr 6:34)5Better is open rebuke than hidden love. (Pr 28:23)6Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy. (Ps 141:5)7One who is full loathes honey, but to one who is hungry everything bitter is sweet. (Pr 25:16)8Like a bird that strays from its nest is a man who strays from his home. (Pr 26:2)9Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.[1] (Ps 23:5)10Do not forsake your friend and your father’s friend, and do not go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity. Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother who is far away. (1Ki 12:6; 2Ch 10:6; Pr 17:17)11Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad, that I may answer him who reproaches me. (Ps 119:42; Ps 127:5; Pr 6:6; Pr 10:1; Pr 23:15; Pr 23:24; Pr 29:3)12The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it. (Pr 1:4; Pr 22:3)13Take a man’s garment when he has put up security for a stranger, and hold it in pledge when he puts up security for an adulteress.[2] (Pr 20:16)14Whoever blesses his neighbor with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, will be counted as cursing.15A continual dripping on a rainy day and a quarrelsome wife are alike; (Pr 19:13)16to restrain her is to restrain the wind or to grasp[3] oil in one’s right hand.17Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.[4]18Whoever tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and he who guards his master will be honored. (So 8:12; Mt 25:21; 1Co 3:8; 1Co 9:7; 2Ti 2:6)19As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects the man.20Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, and never satisfied are the eyes of man. (Job 26:6; Pr 1:12; Pr 15:11; Pr 30:15; Ec 1:8; Ec 4:8; Hab 2:5)21The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and a man is tested by his praise. (Pr 17:3)22Crush a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain, yet his folly will not depart from him. (Pr 23:35; Isa 1:5; Jer 5:3)23Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds, (Joh 10:3; Joh 10:14; Ac 20:28; 1Pe 5:2; 1Pe 5:4)24for riches do not last forever; and does a crown endure to all generations? (Pr 23:5)25When the grass is gone and the new growth appears and the vegetation of the mountains is gathered, (Ps 37:2; Ps 90:5)26the lambs will provide your clothing, and the goats the price of a field. (1Ti 6:8)27There will be enough goats’ milk for your food, for the food of your household and maintenance for your girls. (Pr 27:26)