Proverbs
Chapter 27
This chapter collects short sayings about friendship, praise, and paying attention to what is in front of you. It warns against bragging about tomorrow and praising yourself, and it says honest correction from a friend is worth more than flattery from an enemy. It closes with a longer picture of a farmer who watches his flocks carefully, because wealth does not last on its own.
Plain reading written for preteens. Clear and complete, at about a fifth grade reading level.
Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.
1Do not brag about what you will do tomorrow. You do not know what a single day will bring.
2Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips.
2Let someone else praise you, not your own mouth. Let a stranger do it, not your own lips.
3A stone is heavy, and the sand weighty; but a fool’s wrath is heavier than them both.
3A stone is heavy, and a load of sand is heavy. But trouble from a fool weighs more than both.
4Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?
4Anger is cruel, and rage floods over everything in its path. But who can stand up against jealousy?
5Open rebuke is better than secret love.
5Being corrected out in the open is better than being loved in secret.
6Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.
6A friend may hurt you, but you can trust him. An enemy may kiss you, but he is lying.
7The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.
7A person who is full turns away even from honey. A hungry person finds even bitter food sweet.
8As a bird that wandereth from her nest, so is a man that wandereth from his place.
8A man who wanders away from his home is like a bird that strays from its nest.
9Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man’s friend by hearty counsel.
9Sweet oil and perfume make the heart glad. A friend's advice, given from the heart, is just as sweet.
10Thine own friend, and thy father’s friend, forsake not; neither go into thy brother’s house in the day of thy calamity: for better is a neighbour that is near than a brother far off.
10Do not walk away from your own friend or your father's friend. When trouble comes, do not run to your brother's house. A neighbor who is near is better than a brother far away.
11My son, be wise, and make my heart glad, that I may answer him that reproacheth me.
11My son, be wise and make my heart glad. Then I can answer anyone who makes fun of me.
12A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished.
12A careful person sees trouble coming and takes cover. Simple people keep walking and pay for it.
13Take his garment that is surety for a stranger, and take a pledge of him for a strange woman.
13If a man promises to cover a stranger's debt, take his coat as your guarantee. Hold something of his if he does this for a foreign woman.
In those days a person's outer coat could be held as a guarantee that a debt would be paid. The saying warns that promising to cover a stranger's debt is risky.
14He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, it shall be counted a curse to him.
14If you shout a loud blessing over your neighbor early in the morning, he will take it as a curse.
15A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike.
15A wife who keeps picking fights is like a roof that drips all through a rainy day.
16Whosoever hideth her hideth the wind, and the ointment of his right hand, which bewrayeth itself.
16Trying to hold her back is like holding back the wind. It is like grabbing oil with your hand.
17Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.
17Iron makes iron sharp. In the same way, one person sharpens another.
18Whoso keepeth the fig tree shall eat the fruit thereof: so he that waiteth on his master shall be honoured.
18Whoever cares for a fig tree gets to eat its fruit. Whoever cares for his master will be honored.
19As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man.
19Water shows your face back to you. In the same way, your heart shows who you really are.
20Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.
20The world of the dead is never full. In the same way, human eyes are never satisfied.
The KJV says "hell and destruction." The Hebrew words are Sheol and Abaddon, names for the world of the dead.
21As the fining pot for silver, and the furnace for gold; so is a man to his praise.
21Silver is tested in a melting pot, and gold in a furnace. A person is tested by the praise he gets.
22Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him.
22You could crush a fool in a bowl with a pestle, the way grain is ground. Even then his foolishness would stay.
"Bray" in the KJV means to pound or crush. A mortar and pestle is a heavy bowl and a club used to grind grain.
23Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds.
23Make sure you know how your flocks are doing. Keep a close eye on your herds.
24For riches are not for ever: and doth the crown endure to every generation?
24Riches do not last forever. Even a crown does not stay in one family for all time.
25The hay appeareth, and the tender grass sheweth itself, and herbs of the mountains are gathered.
25The hay is cut, the new grass comes up, and the plants on the hills are gathered in.
26The lambs are for thy clothing, and the goats are the price of the field.
26The lambs will give you wool for your clothes, and the goats will pay the price of a field.
27And thou shalt have goats’ milk enough for thy food, for the food of thy household, and for the maintenance for thy maidens.
27You will have plenty of goats' milk to eat: food for you, for your household, and for your servant girls.
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