1 ARST Do not brag about what{ you think} will happen tomorrow, because you do not know what will happen then. BSB BSB: Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.
2 ARST Do not praise yourself; let someone else praise you. Indeed, let someone who does not know you praise you, not yourself. BSB BSB: Let another praise you, and not your own mouth—a stranger, and not your own lips.
3 ARST Stones and sand are heavy, but how provocative fools are is like something that is heavier than both of them. BSB BSB: A stone is heavy and sand is a burden, but aggravation from a fool outweighs them both.
4 ARST Angry people are cruel and furious people are destructive, but no one can resist jealous people! BSB BSB: Wrath is cruel and anger is like a flood, but who can withstand jealousy?
5 ARST It is better to correct people openly, than to love them without them knowing that you do. BSB BSB: Better an open rebuke than love that is concealed.
6 ARST Friends will be faithful to you by criticizing you{ when necessary}, but enemies will deceive you by acting affectionately toward you. BSB BSB: The wounds of a friend are faithful, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.
7 ARST When people who have full stomachs see{ on the ground} honey dripping from the comb, they step on it{ because they are not hungry}. but even bitter things taste sweet to hungry people{ because they are so hungry}. BSB BSB: The soul that is full loathes honey, but to a hungry soul, any bitter thing is sweet.
8 ARST People who stray from their homes are like birds that stray from their nests. BSB BSB: Like a bird that strays from its nest is a man who wanders from his home.
9 ARST Just as fragrant oil and perfume make people feel happy, so when your friends advise you sincerely, they show how kind they are. BSB BSB: Oil and incense bring joy to the heart, and the counsel of a friend is sweetness to the soul.
10 ARST Do not abandon your friends or your father’ s friends. Do not go to the houses of your relatives when something disastrous happens to you.{ Rather,} it is better to go to a neighbor than to relatives who live far away. BSB BSB: Do not forsake your friend or your father’s friend, and do not go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity; better a neighbor nearby than a brother far away.
11 ARST My child, act wisely and make me happy, so that I will be able to reply to anyone who argues against me. BSB BSB: Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart, so that I can answer him who taunts me.
12 ARST Sensible people observe something dangerous happening and avoid it, but naive people{ ignorantly} do not avoid it and suffer{ for doing so}. BSB BSB: The prudent see danger and take cover, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.
13 ARST Take the coats of people who promise to pay a loan for someone whom they do not know. Indeed, hold onto the coats of people who do so for a foreigner. BSB BSB: Take the garment of him who posts security for a stranger; get collateral if it is for a foreigner.
14 ARST People will think that someone they know is cursing them if that person speaks loudly to bless them early in the morning. BSB BSB: If one blesses his neighbor with a loud voice early in the morning, it will be counted to him as a curse.
15 ARST A wife who always argues{ with you} is as{ annoying as} constantly dripping water on a rainy day. BSB BSB: A constant dripping on a rainy day and a contentious woman are alike—
16 ARST It is as difficult to stop her{ from arguing} as stopping the wind, or catching oil in one hand. BSB BSB: restraining her is like holding back the wind or grasping oil with one’s right hand.
17 ARST Just as iron can sharpen an iron{ blade}, so too people can help people they know improve how they think. BSB BSB: As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.
18 ARST Just as people who take care of fruit trees will eat the fruit from those trees{ as a result}, so too will masters honor their servants who guard them. BSB BSB: Whoever tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and he who looks after his master will be honored.
19 ARST When people look in water, the water reflects their faces. In the same way, what people think reveals what kinds of people they are. BSB BSB: As water reflects the face, so the heart reflects the true man.
20 ARST Just as the place where dead people go never becomes full; so people never stop wanting{ something}. BSB BSB: Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.
21 ARST People use crucibles and furnaces to test and refine silver and gold. In the same way, people test what kind of person someone is by saying good things about that person. BSB BSB: A crucible for silver and a furnace for gold, but a man is tested by the praise accorded him.
22 ARST If you were to crush a fool the way you would crush grain{ into powder}, you would still not be able to stop that person from acting foolishly. BSB BSB: Though you grind a fool like grain with mortar and a pestle, yet his folly will not depart from him.
23 ARST Be fully aware of how your sheep are doing. Indeed, consider carefully how your animals fare. BSB BSB: Be sure to know the state of your flocks, and pay close attention to your herds;
24 ARST { Do so} because riches will not last forever. Even a king’ s family will not rule forever! BSB BSB: for riches are not forever, nor does a crown endure to every generation.
25 ARST Harvest the grass and then you will see new grass. Collect{ and store} the plants that grow on the hillside. BSB BSB: When hay is removed and new growth appears and the grass from the hills is gathered,
26 ARST { If you do these things, then} you will have lambs with wool that you can clothe yourself with. You will also have male goats that you can sell for enough money to buy a field. BSB BSB: the lambs will provide you with clothing, and the goats with the price of a field.
27 ARST You will even have female goats that produce enough milk for yourself, your family, and your servant girls to drink. BSB BSB: You will have plenty of goats’ milk to feed you—food for your household and nourishment for your maidservants.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.