Proverbs 27 - Modern English Version

¹ Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.

² Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.

³ A stone is heavy and sand is weighty, but the wrath of a fool is heavier than both.

⁴ Wrath is cruel and fury is a torrent, but who is able to stand before envy?

⁵ Better is open rebuke than hidden love.

⁶ Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.

⁷ A full soul loathes honey, but to a hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.

⁸ Like a bird that strays from her nest, so is a man who strays from his home.

⁹ Ointment and perfume make the heart glad; so the sweetness of a man’s friend brings joy by hearty counsel.

¹⁰ Your own friend and the friend of your father, forsake not, nor go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity; better is a neighbor who is near than a brother far away.

¹¹ My son, be wise, and make my heart glad, that I may answer my accusers.

¹² A prudent man sees evil and hides himself, but the simple pass on, and are punished.

¹³ Take the garment of him who has put up security for a stranger; seize the pledge when he puts up security for an adulteress.

¹⁴ He who blesses his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, it will be counted a curse to him.

¹⁵ A continual dripping on a rainy day and a contentious wife are alike;

¹⁶ to restrain her is like restraining the wind, or like grasping oil in the right hand.

¹⁷ Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.

¹⁸ He who tends the fig tree will eat its fruit; so he who waits on his master will be honored.

¹⁹ As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects the man.

²⁰ Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.

²¹ The crucible is for silver, and the furnace for gold, but a man is tested by his praise.

²² Though you grind a fool in the mortar with a pestle along with grain, yet his folly will not depart from him.

²³ Know well the condition of your flocks, and carefully attend to your herds,

²⁴ for riches do not last forever, nor does a crown endure to all generations.

²⁵ When the hay is removed, and the tender grass appears, and herbs of the mountains are gathered,

²⁶ the lambs will provide your clothing, and the goats the price of a field;

²⁷ you will have enough goats’ milk for your food, for the food of your household, and nourishment for your servant girls.