Proverbs 27
Good News Translation
27 (A)Never boast about tomorrow. You don't know what will happen between now and then.
2 Let other people praise you—even strangers; never do it yourself.
3 The weight of stone and sand is nothing compared to the trouble that stupidity can cause.
4 Anger is cruel and destructive, but it is nothing compared to jealousy.
5 Better to correct someone openly than to let him think you don't care for him at all.
6 Friends mean well, even when they hurt you. But when an enemy puts his arm around your shoulder—watch out!
7 When you are full, you will refuse honey, but when you are hungry, even bitter food tastes sweet.
8 Anyone away from home is like a bird away from its nest.
9 Perfume and fragrant oils make you feel happier, but trouble shatters your peace of mind.[a]
10 Do not forget your friends or your father's friends. If you are in trouble, don't ask a relative for help; a nearby neighbor can help you more than relatives who are far away.
11 Be wise, my child, and I will be happy; I will have an answer for anyone who criticizes me.
12 Sensible people will see trouble coming and avoid it, but an unthinking person will walk right into it and regret it later.
13 Any people stupid enough to promise to be responsible for a stranger's debts[b] deserve to have their own property held to guarantee payment.
14 You might as well curse your friends as wake them up early in the morning with a loud greeting.
15 A nagging wife is like water going drip-drip-drip on a rainy day. 16 How can you keep her quiet? Have you ever tried to stop the wind or ever tried to hold a handful of oil?[c]
17 People learn from one another, just as iron sharpens iron.
18 Take care of a fig tree and you will have figs to eat. Servants who take care of their master will be honored.
19 It is your own face that you see reflected in the water and it is your own self that you see in your heart.
20 Human desires are like the world of the dead—there is always room for more.
21 Fire tests gold and silver; a person's reputation can also be tested.
22 Even if you beat fools half to death, you still can't beat their foolishness out of them.
23 Look after your sheep and cattle as carefully as you can, 24 because wealth is not permanent. Not even nations last forever. 25 You cut the hay and then cut the grass on the hillsides while the next crop of hay is growing. 26 You can make clothes from the wool of your sheep and buy land with the money you get from selling some of your goats. 27 The rest of the goats will provide milk for you and your family, and for your servant women as well.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 27:9 One ancient translation but trouble … mind; Hebrew unclear.
- Proverbs 27:13 One ancient translation stranger's debts; Hebrew stranger's debts or those of an immoral woman.
- Proverbs 27:16 Probable text or ever … oil; Hebrew unclear.
Proverbs 27
Lexham English Bible
27 Do not boast about tomorrow,[a]
for you do not know what the day will bring.
2 May another praise you and not your own mouth,
a stranger and not your own lips.
3 Heavy is a stone and weighty is sand,
but the provocation of a fool is heavier than both of them.
4 Cruel is wrath and overwhelming is anger,
but who will stand before jealousy?
5 Better a rebuke that is open
than a love that is hidden.
6 The wounds of a friend mean well,
but the kisses of an enemy are profane.
7 An appetite[b] that is sated spurns honey,
but to an appetite[c] that is ravenous, all bitterness is sweet.
8 Like a bird that strays from its nest,
so is a man who strays from his place.
9 Perfume and incense will gladden a heart,
and the pleasantness of one’s friend is personal advice.[d]
10 As for your friend and a friend of your father, do not forsake them,
and the house of your brother, do not enter on the day of your calamity.
Better is a close neighbor than a distant brother.
11 Be wise, my child, and make my heart glad,
and I will answer him who reproaches me with a word.
12 When the clever sees danger, he hides;
the simple go on and suffer.
13 Take his garment, for he gives surety to a stranger,
and to an adulteress[e]—so take his pledge.
14 He who blesses his neighbor with a loud voice
early in the morning,
a curse will be reckoned to him.
15 Dripping constantly on a day of heavy rain
and a woman[f] of contention are alike.
16 In restraining her, he restrains wind,[g]
and his right hand will grasp oil[h].
17 As iron sharpens[i] iron,
so one man sharpens another.[j]
18 He who tends a fig tree will eat its fruit,
and he who guards his master[k] will be honored.
19 As the waters reflect face to face,[l]
so the heart of a person reflects the person.
20 Sheol[m] and Abaddon[n] will not be satisfied,
and the eyes of a person will not be satisfied either.
21 A crucible is for the silver, and a furnace for the gold,
but a man is tested by the mouth of him who praises him.
22 If you crush a fool in the mortar with the pestle along with[o] the crushed grain,
it will not drive folly from upon him.
23 You will surely know the condition[p] of your flock;
your heart[q] attends to the herds.
24 For riches are not forever,
nor a crown for generation after generation.
25 When the grass is gone, then green growth will appear,
and the herbs of the mountains will be gathered.
26 Lambs will be your clothing,
and goats the price of the field.
27 And there will be enough goats’ milk for your food,
for the food of your household and the nourishment[r] of your maidservants.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 27:1 Literally “on the day of tomorrow”
- Proverbs 27:7 Literally “soul”
- Proverbs 27:7 Literally “soul”
- Proverbs 27:9 Literally “because of advice of a person”
- Proverbs 27:13 Literally “a foreign woman”
- Proverbs 27:15 Or “wife”
- Proverbs 27:16 Or “breath, or “spirit”
- Proverbs 27:16 Or “fat”
- Proverbs 27:17 Or “is united with”
- Proverbs 27:17 Literally “a man sharpens the faces of his friend”
- Proverbs 27:18 Or “lord”
- Proverbs 27:19 Literally “the faces to the faces”
- Proverbs 27:20 A term for the place where the dead reside, i.e., the Underworld
- Proverbs 27:20 Poetic synonym for “Sheol.” Only mentioned in the ot in relation to Sheol, the grave, or death.
- Proverbs 27:22 Or “in the midst of”
- Proverbs 27:23 Literally “faces”
- Proverbs 27:23 Or “mind”
- Proverbs 27:27 Literally “life”
Proverbs 27
New Century Version
27 Don’t brag about tomorrow;
you don’t know what may happen then.
2 Don’t praise yourself. Let someone else do it.
Let the praise come from a stranger and not from your own mouth.
3 Stone is heavy, and sand is weighty,
but a complaining fool is worse than either.
4 Anger is cruel and destroys like a flood,
but no one can put up with jealousy!
5 It is better to correct someone openly
than to have love and not show it.
6 The slap of a friend can be trusted to help you,
but the kisses of an enemy are nothing but lies.
7 When you are full, not even honey tastes good,
but when you are hungry, even something bitter tastes sweet.
8 A person who leaves his home
is like a bird that leaves its nest.
9 The sweet smell of perfume and oils is pleasant,
and so is good advice from a friend.
10 Don’t forget your friend or your parent’s friend.
Don’t always go to your family for help when trouble comes.
A neighbor close by is better than a family far away.
11 Be wise, my child, and make me happy.
Then I can respond to any insult.
12 The wise see danger ahead and avoid it,
but fools keep going and get into trouble.
13 Take the coat of someone who promises to pay a stranger’s loan,
and keep it until he pays what the stranger owes.
14 If you loudly greet your neighbor early in the morning,
he will think of it as a curse.
15 A quarreling wife is as bothersome
as a continual dripping on a rainy day.
16 Stopping her is like stopping the wind
or trying to grab oil in your hand.
17 As iron sharpens iron,
so people can improve each other.
18 Whoever tends a fig tree gets to eat its fruit,
and whoever takes care of his master will receive honor.
19 As water reflects your face,
so your mind shows what kind of person you are.
20 People will never stop dying and being destroyed,
and they will never stop wanting more than they have.
21 A hot furnace tests silver and gold,
and people are tested by the praise they receive.
22 Even if you ground up a foolish person like grain in a bowl,
you couldn’t remove the foolishness.
23 Be sure you know how your sheep are doing,
and pay attention to the condition of your cattle.
24 Riches will not go on forever,
nor do governments go on forever.
25 Bring in the hay, and let the new grass appear.
Gather the grass from the hills.
26 Make clothes from the lambs’ wool,
and sell some goats to buy a field.
27 There will be plenty of goat’s milk
to feed you and your family
and to make your servant girls healthy.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
