Proverbs 27 - Easy To Read Version

¹ Never brag about what will happen in the future. You don’t know what will happen tomorrow.

² Never praise yourself. Let other people do it.

³ A stone is heavy, and sand is hard to carry. But \{the trouble caused by\} an angry fool is much harder to bear.

⁴ Anger is cruel and mean. It causes destruction. But jealousy is much worse.

⁵ Open criticism is better than hidden love.

⁶ A friend might hurt you sometimes, but he does not want to do this. An enemy is different. Even when an enemy is kind to you, he wants to hurt you.

⁷ If you are not hungry, then you will not eat even honey. But if you are hungry, you will eat anything—even if it tastes bad.

⁸ A man away from home is like a bird away from its nest.

⁹ Perfume and sweet-smelling things make you feel happy. And a kind word from a friend is more welcome than life-saving advice.

¹⁰ Don’t forget your friends and your father’s friends. And if you have trouble, don’t go far away to your brother’s house for help. It is better to ask a neighbor that is near you than to go far away to your brother.

¹¹ My son, be wise. This will make me happy. Then I will be able to answer any person that criticizes me.

¹² Wise people see trouble coming and get out of its way. But a fool goes straight to the trouble and suffers because of it.

¹³ You will lose your shirt if you make yourself responsible for another man’s debts.

¹⁴ Don’t wake up your neighbor early in the morning with a shout of, “Good morning!” He will treat it like a curse, not a blessing.

¹⁵ A wife that always wants to argue is like water that never stops dripping on a rainy day.

¹⁶ Trying to stop that woman is like trying to stop the wind. It is like trying to grab oil with your hand.

¹⁷ People use pieces of iron to sharpen iron knives. In the same way, people learn from other people, making each other sharp.

¹⁸ A person who cares for fig trees will be able to eat their fruit. In the same way, a person who cares for his master will be rewarded. His master will care for him.

¹⁹ When a person looks into the water he can see his own face. In the same way, a man’s heart shows what the man is really like.

²⁰ People are just like the grave. That place of death and destruction always wants more than it already has.

²¹ People use fire to make gold and silver pure. In the same way, a man is tested by the praise people give him.

²² You can grind a fool to powder, and still you will not force the foolishness out of him.