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 about tomorrow, for you do not 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 someone else 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.]
Consider the heaviness of a stone and the weight of sand— the provocation 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.
There is the cruelty of rage and the flood of anger, 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 an 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.
Faithful are the wounds caused by a friend, but an enemy may kiss you profusely.
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 person who has eaten to the full rejects even a honeycomb, but to the hungry person, 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.
Like a bird that wanders from its nest is a man who strays from where he lives.
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 make the heart rejoice, but the sweetness of a friend comes from his sincere counsel.
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.
Do not forsake your friend and your friend's father, and do not go to your brother's house on the day of your calamity. Better is a neighbor who is nearby than a brother who is far away.
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 make my heart rejoice; then I will give back an answer to the one who mocks me.
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 trouble and hides himself, but the naive people go on and suffer because of 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 a garment of one who has put up security for a stranger, and hold it in pledge when he puts up security for an immoral 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].
Whoever gives his neighbor a blessing with a loud voice early in the morning, that blessing will be considered to be a curse!
15 [Having] a wife that is [constantly] nagging is as [bad as listening] to rain continually dripping on a rainy day.
A quarreling wife is like the constant dripping on a rainy day;
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 trying to catch oil in your 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; in the same way, a man sharpens 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].
The one who tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and the one who protects his master will 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.
Just as water reflects a person's face, so a person's heart reflects the person.
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)
Just as Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, so 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.
A crucible is for silver and a furnace is for gold; and a person is tested when he is praised.
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).
Even if you crush a fool with the pestle—along with the grain— yet his foolishness will not leave him.
23 Take good care of your flocks of sheep and herds of cattle,
Be sure you know the condition of your flocks and be concerned about 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 wealth is not forever. Does a crown endure for 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,
You should know when the hay is gone and the new growth appears, and the time when the grass from the hills is 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,
Those lambs will provide your clothing and the goats will provide the price of the field.
27 and you will get enough milk from the [other] goats for you and your family and your female servants.
There will be goats' milk for your food—the food for your household— and nourishment for your servant girls.
