| English Standard Version | New Living Translation |
| 1Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring. | 1Don’t brag about tomorrow, since you don’t know what the day will bring. |
| 2Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips. | 2Let someone else praise you, not your own mouth— a stranger, not your own lips. |
| 3A stone is heavy, and sand is weighty, but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both. | 3A stone is heavy and sand is weighty, but the resentment caused by a fool is even heavier. |
| 4Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy? | 4Anger is cruel, and wrath is like a flood, but jealousy is even more dangerous. |
| 5Better is open rebuke than hidden love. | 5An open rebuke is better than hidden love! |
| 6Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy. | 6Wounds from a sincere friend are better than many kisses from an enemy. |
| 7One who is full loathes honey, but to one who is hungry everything bitter is sweet. | 7A person who is full refuses honey, but even bitter food tastes sweet to the hungry. |
| 8Like a bird that strays from its nest is a man who strays from his home. | 8A person who strays from home is like a bird that strays from its nest. |
| 9Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel. | 9The heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet as perfume and incense. |
| 10Do not forsake your friend and your father’s friend, and do not go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity. Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother who is far away. | 10Never abandon a friend— either yours or your father’s. When disaster strikes, you won’t have to ask your brother for assistance. It’s better to go to a neighbor than to a brother who lives far away. |
| 11Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad, that I may answer him who reproaches me. | 11Be wise, my child, and make my heart glad. Then I will be able to answer my critics. |
| 12The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it. | 12A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences. |
| 13Take a man’s garment when he has put up security for a stranger, and hold it in pledge when he puts up security for an adulteress. | 13Get security from someone who guarantees a stranger’s debt. Get a deposit if he does it for foreigners. |
| 14Whoever blesses his neighbor with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, will be counted as cursing. | 14A loud and cheerful greeting early in the morning will be taken as a curse! |
| 15A continual dripping on a rainy day and a quarrelsome wife are alike; | 15A quarrelsome wife is as annoying as constant dripping on a rainy day. |
| 16to restrain her is to restrain the wind or to grasp oil in one’s right hand. | 16Stopping her complaints is like trying to stop the wind or trying to hold something with greased hands. |
| 17Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. | 17As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend. |
| 18Whoever tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and he who guards his master will be honored. | 18As workers who tend a fig tree are allowed to eat the fruit, so workers who protect their employer’s interests will be rewarded. |
| 19As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects the man. | 19As a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects the real person. |
| 20Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, and never satisfied are the eyes of man. | 20Just as Death and Destruction are never satisfied, so human desire is never satisfied. |
| 21The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and a man is tested by his praise. | 21Fire tests the purity of silver and gold, but a person is tested by being praised. |
| 22Crush a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain, yet his folly will not depart from him. | 22You cannot separate fools from their foolishness, even though you grind them like grain with mortar and pestle. |
| 23Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds, | 23Know the state of your flocks, and put your heart into caring for your herds, |
| 24for riches do not last forever; and does a crown endure to all generations? | 24for riches don’t last forever, and the crown might not be passed to the next generation. |
| 25When the grass is gone and the new growth appears and the vegetation of the mountains is gathered, | 25After the hay is harvested and the new crop appears and the mountain grasses are gathered in, |
| 26the lambs will provide your clothing, and the goats the price of a field. | 26your sheep will provide wool for clothing, and your goats will provide the price of a field. |
| 27There will be enough goats’ milk for your food, for the food of your household and maintenance for your girls. | 27And you will have enough goats’ milk for yourself, your family, and your servant girls. |
| ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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