New Living Translation
Proverbs • Chapter 27
1
Don’t brag about tomorrow,<br>since you don’t know what the day will bring.<br>
2
Let someone else praise you, not your own mouth —<br>a stranger, not your own lips.<br>
3
A stone is heavy and sand is weighty,<br>but the resentment caused by a fool is even heavier.<br>
4
Anger is cruel, and wrath is like a flood,<br>but jealousy is even more dangerous.<br>
5
An open rebuke<br>is better than hidden love!<br>
6
Wounds from a sincere friend<br>are better than many kisses from an enemy.<br>
7
A person who is full refuses honey,<br>but even bitter food tastes sweet to the hungry.<br>
8
A person who strays from home<br>is like a bird that strays from its nest.<br>
9
The heartfelt counsel of a friend<br>is as sweet as perfume and incense.<br>
10
Never abandon a friend —<br>either yours or your father’s.<br>When disaster strikes, you won’t have to ask your brother for assistance.<br>It’s better to go to a neighbor than to a brother who lives far away.<br>
11
Be wise, my child, and make my heart glad.<br>Then I will be able to answer my critics.<br>
12
A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions.<br>The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.<br>
13
Get security from someone who guarantees a stranger’s debt.<br>Get a deposit if he does it for foreigners.<br>
14
A loud and cheerful greeting early in the morning<br>will be taken as a curse!<br>
15
A quarrelsome wife is as annoying<br>as constant dripping on a rainy day.<br>
16
Stopping her complaints is like trying to stop the wind<br>or trying to hold something with greased hands.<br>
17
As iron sharpens iron,<br>so a friend sharpens a friend.<br>
18
As workers who tend a fig tree are allowed to eat the fruit,<br>so workers who protect their employer’s interests will be rewarded.<br>
19
As a face is reflected in water,<br>so the heart reflects the real person.<br>
20
Just as Death and Destruction are never satisfied,<br>so human desire is never satisfied.<br>
21
Fire tests the purity of silver and gold,<br>but a person is tested by being praised.<br>
22
You cannot separate fools from their foolishness,<br>even though you grind them like grain with mortar and pestle.<br>
23
Know the state of your flocks,<br>and put your heart into caring for your herds,<br>
24
for riches don’t last forever,<br>and the crown might not be passed to the next generation.<br>
25
After the hay is harvested and the new crop appears<br>and the mountain grasses are gathered in,<br>
26
your sheep will provide wool for clothing,<br>and your goats will provide the price of a field.<br>
27
And you will have enough goats’ milk for yourself,<br>your family, and your servant girls.<br>