27:1 Do not boast about tomorrow,
For you do not know what a day may bring.
27:2 Let another praise you, and not your own mouth;
A stranger, and not your own lips.
27:3 A stone is heavy and the sand weighty,
But the provocation of a fool is heavier than both of them.
27:4 Wrath is fierce and anger is a flood,
But who can stand before jealousy?
27:5 Better is open rebuke
Than love that is concealed.
27:6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend,
But ①deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.
▷ ①Or excessive
27:7 A satisfied ①person ②despises honey,
But to a hungry ③person any bitter thing is sweet.
▷ ①Lit soul ②Lit tramples on ③Lit soul
27:8 Like a bird that wanders from its nest,
So is a person who wanders from his ①home.
▷ ①Lit place
27:9 Oil and perfume make the heart glad,
And a ①person’s advice is sweet to his friend.
▷ ①Lit soul’s
27:10 Do not abandon your friend or your father’s friend,
And do not go to your brother’s house on the day of your disaster;
Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother far away.
27:11 Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad,
So that I may reply to one who taunts me.
27:12 A prudent person sees evil and hides himself;
But the naive proceed, and pay the penalty.
27:13 Take his garment when he becomes a guarantor for a stranger;
And for a foreign woman seize a pledge from him.
27:14 One who blesses his friend with a loud voice early in the morning,
It will be considered a curse to him.
27:15 A constant dripping on a day of steady rain
And a contentious woman are alike;
27:16 He who would ①restrain her ②restrains the wind,
And ③grasps oil with his right hand.
▷ ①Lit hide(s) ②Lit hide(s) ③Lit encounters
27:17 As iron sharpens iron,
So one person sharpens another.
27:18 One who tends the fig tree will eat its fruit,
And one who cares for his master will be honored.
27:19 As in water a face reflects the face,
So the heart of a person reflects the person.
27:20 ①Sheol and ②Abaddon are never satisfied,
Nor are the eyes of a person ever satisfied.
▷ ①I.e., The netherworld ②I.e., the place of destruction
27:21 The crucible is for silver and the furnace for gold,
And each is tested by the praise accorded him.
27:22 Though you pound the fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain,
His foolishness still will not leave him.
27:23 Know well the ①condition of your flocks,
And pay attention to your herds;
▷ ①Lit face
27:24 For riches are not forever,
Nor does a crown endure to all generations.
27:25 When the grass disappears, the new growth is seen,
And the herbs of the mountains are gathered in,
27:26 The lambs will be for your clothing,
And the goats will bring the price of a field,
27:27 And there will be enough goats’ milk for your food,
For the food of your household,
And sustenance for your attendants.