New International Version NIV
The Message Bible MSG
1 Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.
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Don't brashly announce what you're going to do tomorrow; you don't know the first thing about tomorrow.
2 Let someone else praise you, and not your own mouth; an outsider, and not your own lips.
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Don't call attention to yourself; let others do that for you.
3 Stone is heavy and sand a burden, but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both.
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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.
4 Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy?
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We're blasted by anger and swamped by rage, but who can survive jealousy?
5 Better is open rebuke than hidden love.
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A spoken reprimand is better than approval that's never expressed.
6 Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.
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The wounds from a lover are worth it; kisses from an enemy do you in.
7 One who is full loathes honey from the comb, but to the hungry even what is bitter tastes sweet.
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When you've stuffed yourself, you refuse dessert; when you're starved, you could eat a horse.
8 Like a bird that flees its nest is anyone who flees from home.
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People who won't settle down, wandering hither and yon, are like restless birds, flitting to and fro.
9 Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of a friend springs from their heartfelt advice.
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Just as lotions and fragrance give sensual delight, a sweet friendship refreshes the soul.
10 Do not forsake your friend or a friend of your family, and do not go to your relative’s house when disaster strikes you— better a neighbor nearby than a relative far away.
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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.
11 Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart; then I can answer anyone who treats me with contempt.
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Become wise, dear child, and make me happy; then nothing the world throws my way will upset me.
12 The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.
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A prudent person sees trouble coming and ducks; a simpleton walks in blindly and is clobbered.
13 Take the garment of one who puts up security for a stranger; hold it in pledge if it is done for an outsider.
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Hold tight to collateral on any loan to a stranger; be wary of accepting what a transient has pawned.
14 If anyone loudly blesses their neighbor early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse.
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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.
15 A quarrelsome wife is like the dripping of a leaky roof in a rainstorm;
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A nagging spouse is like the drip, drip, drip of a leaky faucet;
16 restraining her is like restraining the wind or grasping oil with the hand.
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You can't turn it off, and you can't get away from it. Your Face Mirrors Your Heart
17 As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.
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You use steel to sharpen steel, and one friend sharpens another.
18 The one who guards a fig tree will eat its fruit, and whoever protects their master will be honored.
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If you care for your orchard, you'll enjoy its fruit; if you honor your boss, you'll be honored.
19 As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart.
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Just as water mirrors your face, so your face mirrors your heart.
20 Death and Destruction are never satisfied, and neither are human eyes.
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Hell has a voracious appetite, and lust just never quits.
21 The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but people are tested by their praise.
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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.
22 Though you grind a fool in a mortar, grinding them like grain with a pestle, you will not remove their folly from them.
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Pound on a fool all you like - you can't pound out foolishness.
23 Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds;
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Know your sheep by name; carefully attend to your flocks;
24 for riches do not endure forever, and a crown is not secure for all generations.
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(Don't take them for granted; possessions don't last forever, you know.)
25 When the hay is removed and new growth appears and the grass from the hills is gathered in,
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And then, when the crops are in and the harvest is stored in the barns,
26 the lambs will provide you with clothing, and the goats with the price of a field.
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You can knit sweaters from lambs' wool, and sell your goats for a profit;
27 You will have plenty of goats’ milk to feed your family and to nourish your female servants.
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There will be plenty of milk and meat to last your family through the winter.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.
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.