箴言 27
Chinese New Version (Simplified)
当亲近忠诚的朋友
27 不要为明日自夸，
因为今天要发生甚么事，你尚且不知道。
2 让外人夸奖你，不可自己夸奖自己；
让别人称赞你，不可自己称赞自己。
3 石头重，沙土也重，
愚妄人的怒气比这两样更重。
4 烈怒虽然凶残，暴怒又好象狂澜，
人还可以忍受；
但面对嫉妒，谁能站立得住呢？
5 坦白的责备，
胜过暗中的爱。
6 爱你的人加的创伤是出于忠诚；
恨你的人却与你连连亲吻。
7 吃饱的人连蜂房的蜜也厌恶；
饥饿的人连一切苦的东西都觉得甘甜。
8 离家的人到处飘泊，
好象离巢的雀鸟到处游飞一样。
9 膏油和香料使人心畅快，
朋友真诚的劝勉也使人觉得甘甜。
10 你的朋友和你父亲的朋友，你都不可离弃；
在你遭遇患难的日子，不可进你兄弟的家。
在附近的邻舍胜过在远方的兄弟。
11 我儿，你要作智慧人，使我的心快乐，
我也可以回答那羞辱我的。
12 精明人看见灾祸，就躲藏起来；
愚蒙人反往前走，自取祸害。
13 谁为陌生人作保证人，就拿去谁的衣服；
谁替妓女作保证人，谁就要作担保。
14 清晨起来大声为邻舍祝福的，
就等于是咒诅他。
15 下大雨的时候不断滴漏；
就像吵闹的妇人一样；
16 谁要拦阻她，就像拦阻风，
也像右手抓油。
17 铁磨铁，磨得锋利；
朋友互相切磋，才智（“才智”原文作“面”）也变得敏锐。
18 照料无花果树的，必吃树上的果子；
事奉主人的，必得尊荣。
19 水怎样映照人面，
人的心思也怎样反映其人。
20 阴间和灭亡不会满足，
人的眼目也是一样。
21 用锅炼银，用炉炼金；
人的称赞也试炼人。
22 你虽然用杵把愚妄人与碎谷一同捣在臼中，
他的愚妄还是离不了他。
23 你要清楚知道你羊群的景况，
专心照料你的牛群。
24 因为财富不是永恒的，
冠冕也不能存到万代。
25 干草割去，嫩草又出现，
山上的野草也都收集起来。
26 羊羔的毛可以给你作衣服，
山羊可以作买田地的价银。
27 山羊奶足够作你的食物，
也足够作你一家的食物，
并且足够维持你众婢女的生活。
Proverbs 27
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 27
1 Do not boast about tomorrow,
for you do not know what any day may bring forth.
2 Let another praise you, not your own mouth;
a stranger, not your own lips.
3 Stone is heavy, and sand a burden,
but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both.(A)
4 Anger is cruel, and wrath overwhelming,
but before jealousy who can stand?[a]
5 [b]Better is an open rebuke
than a love that remains hidden.
6 Trustworthy are the blows of a friend,
dangerous, the kisses of an enemy.[c]
7 One who is full spurns honey;
but to the hungry, any bitter thing is sweet.
8 Like a bird far from the nest
so is anyone far from home.[d]
9 Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart,
but by grief the soul is torn asunder.
10 Do not give up your own friend and your father’s friend;
do not resort to the house of your kindred when trouble strikes.
Better a neighbor near than kin far away.[e]
11 Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart,
so that I can answer whoever taunts me.[f]
12 The astute see an evil and hide;
the naive continue on and pay the penalty.(B)
13 Take the garment of the one who became surety for a stranger;(C)
if for a foreign woman, exact the pledge![g]
14 Those who greet their neighbor with a loud voice[h] in the early morning,
a curse can be laid to their charge.
15 For a persistent leak on a rainy day
the match is a quarrelsome wife;(D)
16 Whoever would hide her hides a stormwind
and cannot tell north from south.
17 Iron is sharpened by iron;
one person sharpens another.[i]
18 Those who tend a fig tree eat its fruit;
so those attentive to their master will be honored.
19 As face mirrors face in water,
so the heart reflects the person.
20 Sheol and Abaddon can never be satisfied;(E)
so the eyes of mortals can never be satisfied.[j]
21 The crucible for silver, the furnace for gold,
so you must assay the praise you receive.
22 Though you pound fools with a pestle,
their folly never leaves them.
23 [k]Take good care of your flocks,
give careful attention to your herds;
24 For wealth does not last forever,
nor even a crown from age to age.
25 When the grass comes up and the new growth appears,
and the mountain greens are gathered in,
26 The lambs will provide you with clothing,
and the goats, the price of a field,
27 And there will be ample goat’s milk for your food,
food for your house, sustenance for your maidens.
Footnotes
- 27:4 Anger generally subsides with time but jealousy coolly calculates and plots revenge.
- 27:5–6 Verses 5 and 6 are concerned with true friendship. “Better than” sayings often declare one thing superior to another in view of some value, e.g., 15:17, vegetables are better than meat in view of a milieu of love. In v. 5, a rebuke is better than an act of affection in view of discipline that imparts wisdom.
- 27:6 The present translation is conjectural. The meaning seems to be that a friend’s rebuke can be life-giving and an enemy’s kiss can be deadly (like the kiss of Judas in Mt 26:48).
- 27:8 The bird symbolizes vulnerability as it flees before danger as in Is 10:14; 16:2; and Ps 11:1. For the importance of place in human life, see Jb 20:8–9. People are defined by their place, but, tragically, war, poverty, or illness can force them from it.
- 27:10 The adage is about the difference between friends and kin in a crisis. Two admonitions are grounded in one maxim (colon C). The same Hebrew word means both “one who is near” and “friend.” The whole proverb urges the reader to cultivate old family friends and neighbors and not to rely exclusively on kin in times of trouble, for kin may not be there for us.
- 27:11 A father’s command to a son to be wise, another way of saying that sons or daughters bring joy or shame to their parents.
- 27:13 See note on 20:16.
- 27:14 One interpretation takes the proverb as humorous and the other takes it as serious: (1) an overly loud and ill-timed greeting (lit., “blessing”) invites the response of a curse rather than a “blessing” (greeting); (2) the loud voice suggests hypocrisy in the greeting.
- 27:17 Iron sharpens the “face” (panim = surface, edge) of iron, and a human being sharpens the “face” (panim = face, words) of another. Human beings learn from each other and grow in wisdom by conversing.
- 27:20 Sheol, the underworld abode of the dead, is personified as a force that is never satisfied and always desires more. Cf. Is 5:14 and Hos 13:14. The saying is applicable to modern consumerism.
- 27:23–27 A little treatise on farming in the form of admonitions. It proposes the advantages of field and flock over other forms of wealth. Herds are the most productive wealth, for their value does not diminish; they are a source of money, clothing, and food. The thought is conservative and traditional but the development is vivid and concrete.
Chinese New Version (CNV). Copyright © 1976, 1992, 1999, 2001, 2005 by Worldwide Bible Society.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.