The Message Bible MSG
New Living Translation NLT
1 Don't brashly announce what you're going to do tomorrow; you don't know the first thing about tomorrow.
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Don’t brag about tomorrow, since you don’t know what the day will bring.
2 Don't call attention to yourself; let others do that for you.
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Let someone else praise you, not your own mouth— a stranger, not your 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 sand is weighty, but the resentment caused by a fool is even heavier.
4 We're blasted by anger and swamped by rage, but who can survive jealousy?
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Anger is cruel, and wrath is like a flood, but jealousy is even more dangerous.
5 A spoken reprimand is better than approval that's never expressed.
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An open rebuke is better than hidden love!
6 The wounds from a lover are worth it; kisses from an enemy do you in.
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Wounds from a sincere friend are better than many kisses from an enemy.
7 When you've stuffed yourself, you refuse dessert; when you're starved, you could eat a horse.
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A person who is full refuses honey, but even bitter food tastes sweet to the hungry.
8 People who won't settle down, wandering hither and yon, are like restless birds, flitting to and fro.
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A person who strays from home is like a bird that strays from its nest.
9 Just as lotions and fragrance give sensual delight, a sweet friendship refreshes the soul.
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The heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet as perfume and incense.
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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Never 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.
11 Become wise, dear child, and make me happy; then nothing the world throws my way will upset me.
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Be wise, my child, and make my heart glad. Then I will be able to answer my critics.
12 A prudent person sees trouble coming and ducks; a simpleton walks in blindly and is clobbered.
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A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.
13 Hold tight to collateral on any loan to a stranger; be wary of accepting what a transient has pawned.
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Get security from someone who guarantees a stranger’s debt. Get a deposit if he does it for foreigners.
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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A loud and cheerful greeting early in the morning will be taken as a curse!
15 A nagging spouse is like the drip, drip, drip of a leaky faucet;
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A quarrelsome wife is as annoying as constant dripping on a rainy day.
16 You can't turn it off, and you can't get away from it. Your Face Mirrors Your Heart
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Stopping her complaints is like trying to stop the wind or trying to hold something with greased hands.
17 You use steel to sharpen steel, and one friend sharpens another.
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As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a 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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As workers who tend a fig tree are allowed to eat the fruit, so workers who protect their employer’s interests will be rewarded.
19 Just as water mirrors your face, so your face mirrors your heart.
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As a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects the real person.
20 Hell has a voracious appetite, and lust just never quits.
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Just as Death and Destruction are never satisfied, so human desire is 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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Fire tests the purity of silver and gold, but a person is tested by being praised.
22 Pound on a fool all you like - you can't pound out foolishness.
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You cannot separate fools from their foolishness, even though you grind them like grain with mortar and pestle.
23 Know your sheep by name; carefully attend to your flocks;
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Know the state of your flocks, and put your heart into caring for your herds,
24 (Don't take them for granted; possessions don't last forever, you know.)
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for riches don’t last forever, and the crown might not be passed to the next generation.
25 And then, when the crops are in and the harvest is stored in the barns,
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After the hay is harvested and the new crop appears and the mountain grasses are gathered in,
26 You can knit sweaters from lambs' wool, and sell your goats for a profit;
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your sheep will provide wool for clothing, and your goats will provide the price of a field.
27 There will be plenty of milk and meat to last your family through the winter.
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And you will have enough goats’ milk for yourself, your family, and your servant girls.
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.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.