The Message Bible MSG
King James Version KJV
1 Don't brashly announce what you're going to do tomorrow; you don't know the first thing about tomorrow.
1
Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.
2 Don't call attention to yourself; let others do that for you.
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Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips.
3 Carrying a log across your shoulders while you're hefting a boulder with your arms Is nothing compared to the burden of putting up with a fool.
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A stone is heavy, and the sand weighty; but a fool's wrath is heavier than them both.
4 We're blasted by anger and swamped by rage, but who can survive jealousy?
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Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?
5 A spoken reprimand is better than approval that's never expressed.
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Open rebuke is better than secret love.
6 The wounds from a lover are worth it; kisses from an enemy do you in.
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Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.
7 When you've stuffed yourself, you refuse dessert; when you're starved, you could eat a horse.
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The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.
8 People who won't settle down, wandering hither and yon, are like restless birds, flitting to and fro.
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As a bird that wandereth from her nest, so is a man that wandereth from his place.
9 Just as lotions and fragrance give sensual delight, a sweet friendship refreshes the soul.
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Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man's friend by hearty counsel.
10 Don't leave your friends or your parents' friends and run home to your family when things get rough; Better a nearby friend than a distant family.
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Thine 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.
11 Become wise, dear child, and make me happy; then nothing the world throws my way will upset me.
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My son, be wise, and make my heart glad, that I may answer him that reproacheth me.
12 A prudent person sees trouble coming and ducks; a simpleton walks in blindly and is clobbered.
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A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished.
13 Hold tight to collateral on any loan to a stranger; be wary of accepting what a transient has pawned.
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Take his garment that is surety for a stranger, and take a pledge of him for a strange woman.
14 If you wake your friend in the early morning by shouting "Rise and shine!" It will sound to him more like a curse than a blessing.
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He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, it shall be counted a curse to him.
15 A nagging spouse is like the drip, drip, drip of a leaky faucet;
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A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike.
16 You can't turn it off, and you can't get away from it. Your Face Mirrors Your Heart
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Whosoever hideth her hideth the wind, and the ointment of his right hand, which bewrayeth itself.
17 You use steel to sharpen steel, and one friend sharpens another.
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Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.
18 If you care for your orchard, you'll enjoy its fruit; if you honor your boss, you'll be honored.
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Whoso keepeth the fig tree shall eat the fruit thereof: so he that waiteth on his master shall be honoured.
19 Just as water mirrors your face, so your face mirrors your heart.
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As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man.
20 Hell has a voracious appetite, and lust just never quits.
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Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.
21 The purity of silver and gold is tested by putting them in the fire; The purity of human hearts is tested by giving them a little fame.
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As the fining pot for silver, and the furnace for gold; so is a man to his praise.
22 Pound on a fool all you like - you can't pound out foolishness.
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Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him.
23 Know your sheep by name; carefully attend to your flocks;
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Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds.
24 (Don't take them for granted; possessions don't last forever, you know.)
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For riches are not for ever: and doth the crown endure to every generation?
25 And then, when the crops are in and the harvest is stored in the barns,
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The hay appeareth, and the tender grass sheweth itself, and herbs of the mountains are gathered.
26 You can knit sweaters from lambs' wool, and sell your goats for a profit;
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The lambs are for thy clothing, and the goats are the price of the field.
27 There will be plenty of milk and meat to last your family through the winter.
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And thou shalt have goats' milk enough for thy food, for the food of thy household, and for the maintenance for thy maidens.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
The King James Version is in the public domain.