Proverbs 27
27
You Don’t Know Tomorrow
1Don’t brashly announce what you’re going to do tomorrow;
you don’t know the first thing about tomorrow.
2Don’t call attention to yourself;
let others do that for you.
3Carrying a log across your shoulders
while you’re hefting a boulder with your arms
Is nothing compared to the burden
of putting up with a fool.
4We’re blasted by anger and swamped by rage,
but who can survive jealousy?
5A spoken reprimand is better
than approval that’s never expressed.
6The wounds from a lover are worth it;
kisses from an enemy do you in.
7When you’ve stuffed yourself, you refuse dessert;
when you’re starved, you could eat a horse.
8People who won’t settle down, wandering hither and yon,
are like restless birds, flitting to and fro.
9Just as lotions and fragrance give sensual delight,
a sweet friendship refreshes the soul.
10Don’t leave your friends or your parents’ friends
and run home to your family when things get rough;
Better a nearby friend
than a distant family.
11Become wise, dear child, and make me happy;
then nothing the world throws my way will upset me.
12A prudent person sees trouble coming and ducks;
a simpleton walks in blindly and is clobbered.
13Hold tight to collateral on any loan to a stranger;
be wary of accepting what a transient has pawned.
14If you wake your friend in the early morning
by shouting “Rise and shine!”
It will sound to him
more like a curse than a blessing.
15-16A nagging spouse is like
the drip, drip, drip of a leaky faucet;
You can’t turn it off,
and you can’t get away from it.
Your Face Mirrors Your Heart
17You use steel to sharpen steel,
and one friend sharpens another.
18If you care for your orchard, you’ll enjoy its fruit;
if you honor your boss, you’ll be honored.
19Just as water mirrors your face,
so your face mirrors your heart.
20Hell has a voracious appetite,
and lust just never quits.
21The purity of silver and gold is tested
by putting them in the fire;
The purity of human hearts is tested
by giving them a little fame.
22Pound on a fool all you like—
you can’t pound out foolishness.
23-27Know your sheep by name;
carefully attend to your flocks;
(Don’t take them for granted;
possessions don’t last forever, you know.)
And then, when the crops are in
and the harvest is stored in the barns,
You can knit sweaters from lambs’ wool,
and sell your goats for a profit;
There will be plenty of milk and meat
to last your family through the winter.
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Proverbs 27: MSG
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.
Proverbs 27
27
1Don’t brag about tomorrow;
you don’t know what may happen then.
2Don’t praise yourself. Let someone else do it.
Let the praise come from a stranger and not from your own mouth.
3Stone is heavy, and sand is weighty,
but a complaining fool is worse than either.
4Anger is cruel and destroys like a flood,
but no one can put up with jealousy!
5It is better to correct someone openly
than to have love and not show it.
6The slap of a friend can be trusted to help you,
but the kisses of an enemy are nothing but lies.
7When you are full, not even honey tastes good,
but when you are hungry, even something bitter tastes sweet.
8A person who leaves his home
is like a bird that leaves its nest.
9The sweet smell of perfume and oils is pleasant,
and so is good advice from a friend.
10Don’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.
11Be wise, my child, and make me happy.
Then I can respond to any insult.
12The wise see danger ahead and avoid it,
but fools keep going and get into trouble.
13Take the coat of someone who promises to pay a stranger’s loan,
and keep it until he pays what the stranger owes.
14If you loudly greet your neighbor early in the morning,
he will think of it as a curse.
15A quarreling wife is as bothersome
as a continual dripping on a rainy day.
16Stopping her is like stopping the wind
or trying to grab oil in your hand.
17As iron sharpens iron,
so people can improve each other.
18Whoever tends a fig tree gets to eat its fruit,
and whoever takes care of his master will receive honor.
19As water reflects your face,
so your mind shows what kind of person you are.
20People will never stop dying and being destroyed,
and they will never stop wanting more than they have.
21A hot furnace tests silver and gold,
and people are tested by the praise they receive.
22Even if you ground up a foolish person like grain in a bowl,
you couldn’t remove the foolishness.
23Be sure you know how your sheep are doing,
and pay attention to the condition of your cattle.
24Riches will not go on forever,
nor do governments go on forever.
25Bring in the hay, and let the new grass appear.
Gather the grass from the hills.
26Make clothes from the lambs’ wool,
and sell some goats to buy a field.
27There will be plenty of goat’s milk
to feed you and your family
and to make your servant girls healthy.
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.