Proverbs 17:18

17:18 The one who lacks wisdom ¹  strikes hands in pledge, ² 

and puts up financial security ³  for his neighbor. ⁴ 

Proverbs 18:9

18:9 The one who ⁵  is slack ⁶  in his work

is a brother ⁷  to one who destroys. ⁸ 

Proverbs 22:26-27

22:26 Do not be one who strikes hands in pledge

or who puts up security for debts.

22:27 If you do not have enough to pay,

your bed ⁹  will be taken ¹⁰  right out from under you! ¹¹ 

Proverbs 24:27

24:27 Establish your work outside and get your fields ready;

afterward build ¹²  your house. ¹³ 

Proverbs 24:30-34

24:30 I passed by the field of a sluggard,

by the vineyard of one who lacks wisdom. ¹⁴ 

24:31 I saw ¹⁵  that thorns had grown up all over it,

the ground ¹⁶  was covered with weeds,

and its stone wall was broken down.

24:32 When I saw this, I gave careful consideration to it; ¹⁷ 

I received instruction from what I saw: ¹⁸ 

24:33 “A little sleep, a little slumber,

a little folding of the hands to relax,

24:34 and your poverty will come like a bandit,

and your need like an armed robber.” ¹⁹ 

Proverbs 27:23-27

27:23 Pay careful attention to ²⁰  the condition of your flocks, ²¹ 

give careful attention ²²  to your herds,

27:24 for riches do not last ²³  forever,

nor does a crown last ²⁴  from generation to generation.

27:25 When the hay is removed and new grass appears,

and the grass from the hills is gathered in,

27:26 the lambs will be for your clothing,

and the goats will be for the price of a field. ²⁵ 

27:27 And there will be enough goat’s milk for your food, ²⁶ 

for the food of your household,

and for the sustenance ²⁷  of your servant girls.

John 6:12

6:12 When they were all satisfied, Jesus ²⁸  said to his disciples, “Gather up the broken pieces that are left over, so that nothing is wasted.”

Romans 12:11

12:11 Do not lag in zeal, be enthusiastic in spirit, serve the Lord.

Ephesians 5:15

Live Wisely

5:15 Therefore be very careful how you live – not as unwise but as wise,

Colossians 4:5

4:5 Conduct yourselves ²⁹  with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunities.

[17:18]  ¹ tn Heb “heart”; KJV, ASV “a man void of understanding”; NIV “a man lacking in judgment.”

[17:18]  ² tn The phrase “in pledge” is supplied for the sake of clarification.

[17:18]  ³ tn The line uses the participle עֹרֵב (’orev) with its cognate accusative עֲרֻבָּה (’arubah), “who pledges a pledge.”

[17:18]  ⁴ sn It is foolish to pledge security for someone’s loans (e.g., Prov 6:1-5).

[18:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “Also, the one who.” Many commentators and a number of English versions omit the word “also.”

[18:9]  ⁶ tn The form מִתְרַפֶּה (mitrappeh) is the Hitpael participle, “showing oneself slack.” The verb means “to sink; to relax,” and in the causative stem “to let drop” the hands. This is the lazy person who does not even try to work.

[18:9]  ⁷ sn These two troubling types, the slacker and the destroyer, are closely related.

[18:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “possessor of destruction.” This idiom means “destroyer” (so ASV); KJV “a great waster”; NRSV “a vandal.”

[22:27]  ⁹ tn The “bed” may be a metonymy of adjunct, meaning the garment that covers the bed (e.g., Exod 22:26). At any rate, it represents the individual’s last possession (like the English expression “the shirt off his back”).

[22:27]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “If you cannot pay, why should he take the bed from under you?” This rhetorical question is used to affirm the statement. The rhetorical interrogative לָמָּה (lamah, “why?”) appears in MT but not in the ancient versions; it may be in the Hebrew text by dittography.

[22:27]  ¹¹ sn The third saying deals with rash vows: If people foolishly pledge what they have, they could lose everything (e.g., 6:1-5; 11:15; 17:18; 20:16; there is no Egyptian parallel).

[24:27]  ¹² tn The perfect tense with vav following the imperatives takes on the force of an imperative here.

[24:27]  ¹³ sn If the term “house” is understood literally, the proverb would mean that one should be financially secure before building a house (cf. NLT). If “house” is figurative for household (metonymy of subject: children or family), the proverb would mean that one should have financial security and provision before starting a family. Some English versions suggest the latter meaning by using the word “home” for “house” (e.g., TEV, CEV).

[24:30]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “lacks heart”; KJV “understanding”; NAB, NASB, NLT “sense.”

[24:31]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew term וְהִנֵּה (vÿhinneh, traditionally “and, lo” [KJV, ASV]) is a deictic particle that calls attention to what comes next. “And look” is too abrupt here; “I saw” calls attention to the field that was noticed.

[24:31]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “its face” (so KJV, ASV).

[24:32]  ¹⁷ sn Heb “I set my heart.” The “heart” represents the mind and the will combined; to “set” the mind and will means to give careful consideration to what was observed.

[24:32]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “I looked, I received instruction.” There are four verbs in the two parts of this verse: “I saw…I set…I saw…I received.” It is clear that the first two verbs in each half verse are the foundation for the next two. At the beginning of the verse the form is the preterite with the vav (ו) consecutive; it can be subordinated as a temporal clause to the next verb, probably to be identified as a preterite with the vav – “when I saw, I put.” The next two verbs are both perfect tenses; their construction would parallel the first half of the verse, even though there are no conjunctions here – “[when] I saw, I received.”

[24:34]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “a man of shield.” This could refer to an armed warrior (so NRSV) but in this context, in collocation with the other word for “robber” in the previous line, it must refer to an armed criminal.

[27:23]  ²⁰ tn The sentence uses the infinitive absolute and the imperfect from יָדַע (yada’, “to know”). The imperfect here has been given the obligatory nuance, “you must know,” and that has to be intensified with the infinitive.

[27:23]  ²¹ tn Heb “the faces of your flock.”

[27:23]  ²² tn The idiom is “place [it on] your heart” or “take to heart.” Cf. NLT “put your heart into.”

[27:24]  ²³ tn Heb “riches are not forever” (so KJV, NASB); TEV “wealth is not permanent.” The term “last” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[27:24]  ²⁴ tn The conjunction and the particle indicate that the same nuance continues here in the second colon, and so “last” has been supplied here as well.

[27:26]  ²⁵ sn Verse 25 is the protasis and v. 26 the apodosis. The two verses say that when the harvest is taken in, then the grass will grow, and they can sell and use their livestock. The lambs will provide clothing, and the goats when sold will pay for land.

[27:27]  ²⁶ sn This part of the proverb shows the proper interplay between human labor and divine provision. It teaches people to take care of what they have because it will not last forever.

[27:27]  ²⁷ tn Heb “life”; KJV, NAB “maintenance”; NRSV “nourishment.”

[6:12]  ²⁸ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:5]  ²⁹ tn Grk “walk.” The verb περιπατέω (peripatew) is a common NT idiom for one’s lifestyle, behavior, or manner of conduct (L&N 41.11).