Sprüche 27 | New International Reader’s Version

1 Don’t boast about tomorrow. You don’t know what a day will bring. 2 Let another person praise you, and not your own mouth. Let an outsider praise you, and not your own lips. 3 Stones are heavy, and sand weighs a lot. But letting a foolish person make you angry is a heavier load than both of them. 4 Anger is mean, and great anger overpowers you. But who can face jealousy? 5 Being warned openly is better than being loved in secret. 6 Wounds from a friend can be trusted. But an enemy kisses you many times. 7 When you are full, you even hate honey. When you are hungry, even what is bitter tastes sweet. 8 Anyone who runs away from home is like a bird that flies away from its nest. 9 Perfume and incense bring joy to your heart. And the sweetness of a friend comes from their honest advice. 10 Don’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. 11 My son, be wise and bring joy to my heart. Then I can answer anyone who makes fun of me. 12 Wise people see danger and go to a safe place. But childish people keep on going and suffer for it. 13 Take 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. 14 Suppose you loudly bless your neighbour early in the morning. Then you might as well be cursing him. 15 A nagging wife is like the dripping of a leaky roof in a rainstorm. 16 Stopping her is like trying to stop the wind. It’s like trying to grab olive oil with your hand. 17 As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. 18 A person who guards a fig tree will eat its fruit. And a person who protects their master will be honoured. 19 When you look into water, you see a likeness of your face. When you look into your heart, you see what you are really like. 20 Death and the Grave are never satisfied. People’s eyes are never satisfied either. 21 Fire tests silver, and heat tests gold. But people are tested by the praise they receive. 22 Suppose 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. 23 Be sure you know how your flocks are doing. Pay careful attention to your herds. 24 Riches don’t last for ever. And a crown is not secure for all time to come. 25 The hay is removed, and new growth appears. The grass from the hills is gathered in. 26 Then your lambs will provide you with clothes. And the money from selling your goats will buy you a field. 27 You will have plenty of goats’ milk to feed your family. It will also feed your female servants.

English Standard Version

1 Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring. 2 Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips. 3 A stone is heavy, and sand is weighty, but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both. 4 Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy? 5 Better is open rebuke than hidden love. 6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy. 7 One who is full loathes honey, but to one who is hungry everything bitter is sweet. 8 Like a bird that strays from its nest is a man who strays from his home. 9 Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.* 10 Do 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. 11 Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad, that I may answer him who reproaches me. 12 The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it. 13 Take 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.* 14 Whoever blesses his neighbor with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, will be counted as cursing. 15 A continual dripping on a rainy day and a quarrelsome wife are alike; 16 to restrain her is to restrain the wind or to grasp* oil in one’s right hand. 17 Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.* 18 Whoever tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and he who guards his master will be honored. 19 As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects the man. 20 Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, and never satisfied are the eyes of man. 21 The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and a man is tested by his praise. 22 Crush a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain, yet his folly will not depart from him. 23 Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds, 24 for riches do not last forever; and does a crown endure to all generations? 25 When the grass is gone and the new growth appears and the vegetation of the mountains is gathered, 26 the lambs will provide your clothing, and the goats the price of a field. 27 There will be enough goats’ milk for your food, for the food of your household and maintenance for your girls.

Sprüche 27 | New International Reader’s Version English Standard Version