King James Version, with Nii Okai's journal notes · 5 notes
1Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.
2Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips.
3A stone is heavy, and the sand weighty; but a fool’s wrath is heavier than them both.
4Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?
Even evil is in levels; some things are worse than others.
But we are greatly cautioned here against envy.
5Open rebuke is better than secret love.
6Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.
7The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.
8As a bird that wandereth from her nest, so is a man that wandereth from his place.
You will definitely be ensnared when you wander into a place out of your own.
So we ought to be aware that out there are wolves and wicked men; stay under your shelter and your place.
9Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man’s friend by hearty counsel.
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.
11My son, be wise, and make my heart glad, that I may answer him that reproacheth me.
I can imagine David saying this to Solomon,
his son born out of wedlock and adultery and murder. Solomon had no choice than to be wise under such circumstances.
And wise he became; he understood his peculiar situation and the mockery surrounding him.
He left nothing to chance.
12A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished.
13Take his garment that is surety for a stranger, and take a pledge of him for a strange woman.
14He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, it shall be counted a curse to him.
15A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike.
16Whosoever hideth her hideth the wind, and the ointment of his right hand, which bewrayeth itself.
17Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.
18Whoso keepeth the fig tree shall eat the fruit thereof: so he that waiteth on his master shall be honoured.
19As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man.
20Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.
21As the fining pot for silver, and the furnace for gold; so is a man to his praise.
The New King James Version brings the meaning out better; it reads:
Proverbs 27:21 NKJV
The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, And a man is valued by what others say of him.
22Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him.
This is serious; no wonder elsewhere he says answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you become like him.
Counsel is not befitting a fool.
23Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds.
24For riches are not for ever: and doth the crown endure to every generation?
25The hay appeareth, and the tender grass sheweth itself, and herbs of the mountains are gathered.
26The lambs are for thy clothing, and the goats are the price of the field.
27And thou shalt have goats’ milk enough for thy food, for the food of thy household, and for the maintenance for thy maidens.