Proverbs 27: Good friends make each other better | Bible study

This chapter is about being a true friend: telling the truth, staying close and helping each other grow. It also says not to brag, and to take good care of the things you have been given to look after.

Proverbs 27:1

Don't brag about what you will do tomorrow. You don't know what even one day will bring.

Do not praise yourself over tomorrow,

The warning is against talking about your future plans and successes as if they were already in hand.

for you do not know what a day may give birth to.

This is the reason. A day is pictured as a pregnant woman, and nobody knows what she will deliver. Even today is unknown until it has happened, so tomorrow is certainly not yours to boast about.

הלל · halal · praise oneself: The ordinary verb for praise, as in hallelujah. In this form it turns back on the speaker: to praise oneself.
מחר · machar · tomorrow: Literally the day of tomorrow. James 4:13-16 develops this verse.
ידע · yada · know by experience: Knowledge is exactly what you lack about the future.
ילד · yalad · give birth to: The verb for bearing a child. English hides the picture of the day in labor.

Proverbs 27:2

Let someone else say good things about you. Don't say them about yourself.

Let someone else praise you, and not your own mouth,

The same verb as verse 1. Praise carries weight only when it comes from another person. From your own mouth it proves nothing and puts people off.

an outsider, and not your own lips.

This goes a step further. The best witness is someone with no tie to you and no reason to flatter you. If such a person speaks well of you, it means something.

זר · zar · stranger, outsider: Someone outside your family or circle. Elsewhere in Proverbs the word is often negative; here the outsider's distance is his value.
הלל · halal · praise: The verb of verse 1 in its plain form: the praising is to be done by others.
פה · peh · mouth: Your own mouth is a biased witness.
נכרי · nokri · foreigner: A foreigner, someone not of your people. Paired with zar as in 5:10 and 20:16.
שפה · saphah · lip, speech: Parallel to mouth in the first line.

Proverbs 27:3

A stone is heavy, and so is a load of sand. But putting up with a fool who keeps annoying you is heavier than both.

A stone has weight and sand is a load,

Two things anyone who has done manual work knows to be heavy and tiring to carry.

but a fool's vexation is heavier than both.

This is a step beyond the first line. The irritation and resentment that a stubborn fool produces is a heavier burden for those around him than any physical load. It wears people down in a way lifting does not.

אבן · even · stone: A building stone or boulder.
כבד · koved · heaviness: A noun: the heaviness of a stone. The related adjective comes in the second line.
חול · chol · sand: Sand as a load to be carried. Job 6:3 uses the weight of the sand of the sea in the same way.
כעס · ka'as · vexation, anger: Irritation, grief or anger. It can be the fool's own temper or the vexation he causes; 12:16 uses it of the fool's quick annoyance.
אויל · evil · stubborn fool: The fool who has decided not to be taught (1:7). He returns in verse 22.
כבד · kaved · heavy: From the same root as honor (kavod). Here the weight is a burden.

Proverbs 27:4

Anger is fierce and wild, like a flood. But jealousy is even worse, and nobody can stand up to it.

Rage is cruel and anger is a flood,

Two strong pictures of anger. It is merciless, and it sweeps everything along like a torrent.

but who can stand up to jealousy?

This rises above the first line. Anger, however violent, blows over like a flood passing. Jealousy does not pass. It is steady and cannot be bought off, so no one can hold out against it.

חמה · chemah · heat, rage: From a root meaning to be hot. Burning rage.
אכזריות · akzeriyyut · cruelty: A noun: cruelty, mercilessness. Literally, cruelty of rage.
אף · aph · nose, anger: Literally the nose or nostril, where anger shows in hard breathing.
שטף · sheteph · torrent, overflow: A rush of overflowing water.
עמד · amad · stand, hold ground: To stand one's ground before something.
קנאה · qin'ah · jealousy, zeal: Passionate jealousy, especially of a wronged spouse. Proverbs 6:34-35 says such a man accepts no compensation.

Proverbs 27:5

It is better to be told plainly that you are wrong than to be loved by someone who never shows it.

Better a correction spoken openly

A rebuke said to your face is uncomfortable, but it gives you something you can act on.

than a love that stays hidden.

The comparison is with a love that never shows itself, in particular one that keeps quiet when you need to be told you are wrong. Affection that does nothing is worth less to you than a plain-spoken correction.

גלה · galah · uncover: Uncovered, brought into the open. The opposite of concealed in the next line.
תוכחת · tokachat · correction: Correction that shows you were wrong. The word Wisdom uses for what she offers in 1:23.
אהבה · ahavah · love: The noun from ahav, to love. Verse 6 names the person who has it.
סתר · satar · hide: To hide. A love that is kept out of sight and never acts.

Proverbs 27:6

A friend may hurt you by telling you the truth, but you can trust him. An enemy may kiss you again and again, but he is tricking you.

The wounds from one who loves you can be trusted,

A friend's hard words hurt, but they are reliable. They come from someone who wants your good, so the pain serves you.

but the kisses of one who hates you are too many.

This is the contrast. An enemy's show of affection is the thing to be wary of. He is lavish with it, and it means nothing or worse. Judge by who is acting, not by whether it feels pleasant.

אמן · aman · be firm, reliable: The root of amen. In this form it means dependable, trustworthy.
פצע · petsa · wound, bruise: A wound from a blow. The rebuke of verse 5, felt.
אהב · ahav · love: A participle: one who loves. Not the usual word for neighbor but a stronger one.
נשיקה · neshiqah · kiss: The normal greeting between friends and family. Compare Judas in Matthew 26:49.
שנא · sane · hate: A participle: one who hates. Set directly against the one who loves.

A kiss was the ordinary greeting between relatives and friends, so it was an easy cover for hostility. Joab greeted Amasa this way as he killed him (2 Samuel 20:9-10).

The Hebrew word describing the kisses is rare and its sense is debated. It may mean 'profuse, excessive' or 'deceitful'. Versions choose one or the other; both describe affection that cannot be trusted.

Proverbs 27:7

When your tummy is full, you don't even want honey. When you are really hungry, even bitter food tastes sweet.

A person who is full tramples on honey,

Honey was the sweetest food known. Someone who has eaten too much treats even that as worthless and walks over it.

but to a hungry person everything bitter is sweet.

This is the contrast. Need changes taste. The same thing is despised by one and treasured by another, depending on how empty they are. It applies to more than food: having too much dulls enjoyment, and want sharpens it.

שבע · savea · full, sated: Filled to the point of wanting no more. The verb from this root returns in verse 20.
נפש · nephesh · soul, appetite: The whole self, and often the throat or appetite. Literally a sated appetite and a hungry appetite.
בוס · bus · trample: To tread underfoot. Stronger than the English: he does not just dislike it, he steps on it.
נפת · nophet · honey from the comb: Honey dripping from the comb, the finest kind (Psalm 19:10).
רעב · ra'ev · hungry: From the word for famine.
מר · mar · bitter: Bitter in taste, and often bitter in experience.
מתוק · matoq · sweet: Sweet, pleasant. The related noun appears in verse 9.

Proverbs 27:8

A person who wanders far from home is like a bird that wanders far from its nest.

Like a bird that strays from its nest,

A bird away from its nest has left its shelter and its young. It is exposed, and so is what it left behind.

so is a man who strays from his place.

A person who drifts away from where he belongs, his home, people and duties, is in the same position. He loses his protection and those who depend on him lose theirs.

צפור · tsippor · small bird: The general word for a small bird.
נדד · nadad · stray, flee: To wander or flee. The same verb is used for both the bird and the man.
קן · qen · nest: The nest, a picture of home and security. Compare Isaiah 16:2.
מקום · maqom · place: Literally his place: where a person stands and belongs. Wider than a house.

Proverbs 27:9

Sweet-smelling oil and perfume make you feel happy. So does good advice from a friend who cares.

Oil and incense gladden the heart,

Scented oil on the skin and fragrant smoke in the room were the pleasures of a good welcome. They lift the spirits.

and so does the sweetness of a friend who advises from the soul.

A friend's heartfelt counsel is compared to those pleasures. Advice given sincerely by someone who cares about you is as refreshing to the inner person as perfume is to the senses.

שמן · shemen · oil: Olive oil, often scented, used on the skin and hair.
קטרת · qetoret · incense: Incense, fragrant smoke. The word used for the incense of the sanctuary.
שמח · samach · make glad: To give joy. The same verb appears in verse 11.
לב · lev · heart, mind: The inner person: mind, will and feelings together.
עצה · etsah · counsel: Counsel. The Hebrew phrase is counsel of the soul (nephesh), that is, earnest and from the heart.
מתק · meteq · sweetness: A noun: sweetness. From the same root as sweet in verse 7.
רע · rea · friend, neighbor: A companion or neighbor. The main friendship word of the chapter.

Hosts anointed guests with perfumed oil and burned incense at meals. These were signs of welcome and celebration (Psalm 23:5; Luke 7:46).

The second line is hard. Word for word it runs: 'and the sweetness of his friend from counsel of soul'. Most versions take it as the NASB does. The old Greek translation read the line very differently, and a few modern versions follow it.

Proverbs 27:10

Never let go of your friend or your dad's friend. When trouble comes, a neighbour close by can help you more than a brother who lives far away.

Do not let go of your own friend or your father's friend,

Keep up proven friendships, including the ones your family has held for a generation. A friend who was loyal to your father has been tested by time.

and do not go to your brother's house on the day of your disaster;

This is not a ban on asking family for help. It is setting up the third line: when trouble strikes, a relative who lives far off is not the one you can actually reach.

better a neighbor close by than a brother far away.

This gives the reason for both lines. Help depends on being near, in distance and in relationship. The friend next door who shows up is worth more in a crisis than a blood relative who is far off.

עזב · azav · leave, forsake: To leave behind or let drop.
רע · rea · friend, neighbor: Used twice in the line: your friend and the friend of your father.
איד · eyd · calamity: Sudden ruin. The word used in 1:26.
שכן · shaken · one who lives nearby: From the verb to dwell: the person living next to you.
קרוב · qarov · near: Near in place, and also the word for someone close to you.
אח · ach · brother: A blood brother. Compare 17:17 and 18:24 on friends and brothers.
רחוק · rachoq · far, distant: Distant. The contrast with near carries the point.

Proverbs 27:11

My child, be wise and make my heart glad. Then I will have an answer for anyone who makes fun of me.

Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad,

The teacher speaks as a father. A child's wisdom is the parent's joy.

so that I can give an answer to anyone who taunts me.

This gives a further reason. A father or teacher is judged by how his son turns out. If the son lives wisely, that is the father's reply to his critics; if not, they have their proof against him.

חכם · chakam · be wise: The verb from the root of chokmah. A command: become wise, act wisely.
שמח · samach · make glad: The verb of verse 9. Compare 10:1 and 23:15.
לב · lev · heart, mind: The father's inner self, which the son has power to gladden or grieve.
שוב · shuv · return: Literally return a word: give back an answer.
חרף · charaph · reproach, taunt: To reproach or sneer at. The word used of Goliath's taunting in 1 Samuel 17.

Proverbs 27:12

A careful person sees danger coming and hides. A person who doesn't think keeps walking right into it and gets hurt.

The shrewd person sees trouble and takes cover;

Good sense means looking ahead, spotting danger while it is still at a distance, and getting out of its way.

the gullible keep going and pay for it.

This is the contrast. The naive either do not notice or do not think it will touch them. They walk straight on and take the consequences. The difference between the two is foresight, not luck.

ערום · arum · shrewd: The adjective related to ormah, shrewdness (1:4). Someone who is not easily caught out.
ראה · ra'ah · see: To see. In Hebrew it sounds nearly the same as the next word, trouble.
רעה · ra'ah · harm, trouble: Here not moral evil but harm or danger coming.
סתר · satar · hide: To take cover. The verb of verse 5, here in a good sense.
פתי · peti · open, gullible: The open, unguarded person of 1:4. Plural here.
עבר · avar · pass on: To pass along or go on through.
ענש · anash · be fined: To be fined. It costs them. This verse is nearly identical to 22:3.

Proverbs 27:13

Be careful with someone who promises to pay back what a stranger owes. If you lend him anything, keep his coat until he pays you.

Take his coat, since he has put up security for a stranger;

Addressed to a lender. Someone who guarantees the debt of a person he does not know is a bad risk, so hold his cloak as collateral before you lend him anything.

hold it as a pledge, since he did it for a foreign woman.

The same point with a second case. Whoever takes on obligations for outsiders has shown poor judgment, and you should protect yourself when dealing with him. The saying indirectly warns the reader not to be that guarantor.

בגד · beged · garment, cloak: The outer cloak, a person's basic possession and the standard item taken in pledge.
ערב · arav · stand surety: To pledge oneself for another's debt. Proverbs warns against it repeatedly (6:1; 11:15; 17:18).
זר · zar · stranger, outsider: The word of verse 2. An outsider is good as a witness and bad as a debtor to vouch for.
נכריה · nokriyah · foreign woman: The feminine of nokri in verse 2. In chapters 2 to 7 the same word describes the adulteress.
חבל · chaval · take in pledge: To bind someone by taking an item as security.

A lender could hold a borrower's cloak as security. The law required it to be returned by nightfall if the man was poor, since he slept in it (Exodus 22:26-27). Taking it marked the borrower as someone who needed watching.

This verse is almost the same as 20:16. There the written Hebrew text has 'foreigners' (masculine plural); here it has 'a foreign woman'.

Proverbs 27:14

If you shout a friendly hello at your neighbour very early in the morning, he won't feel it is kind. He will feel it is mean.

Someone who blesses his neighbor in a loud voice, getting up early to do it,

The words are a blessing, a greeting of goodwill. But they are shouted, and at dawn, when the neighbor wants quiet.

it will be counted to him as a curse.

The result is the opposite of what the words say. A kindness delivered with no sense of timing or volume lands as an offence. Overdone, showy friendliness also raises the suspicion that it is not sincere.

ברך · barak · bless, greet: To bless, and also the ordinary word for greeting someone.
רע · rea · friend, neighbor: The same word as verses 9 and 10.
קול גדול · qol gadol · great voice: Literally a great voice.
שכם · shakam · rise early: To get up early. The Hebrew has both in the morning and rising early, stressing the hour.
חשב · chashav · reckon, count: To reckon or credit. The word used in Genesis 15:6.
קללה · qelalah · curse: The direct opposite of the blessing he intended.

Proverbs 27:15

A wife who is always arguing is like a drip, drip, drip that will not stop on a rainy day.

A steady drip on a day of pouring rain

A leaking roof during a downpour. You cannot go outside to get away from it and you cannot stop it. It goes on and on.

and a quarrelsome wife are the same thing.

Constant quarrelling at home is compared to that leak. Each drop is small, but there is no relief and nowhere else to go, because it is in your own house.

דלף · deleph · a drip, a leak: A leak through the roof. The Hebrew adds a word meaning driving or continual.
סגריר · sagrir · heavy rain: This word occurs only here. It means a persistent downpour.
אשת מדינים · eshet midyanim · woman of quarrels: Literally a wife of quarrels. Midyanim is the plural of madon, strife. See 19:13; 21:9.
שוה · shavah · be equal to: To be level with, to match.

Houses had flat roofs of branches and packed clay laid over beams. They had to be rolled smooth after rain, and in a long downpour they leaked.

Proverbs 27:16

Trying to stop her is like trying to stop the wind, or trying to hold oil in your hand.

Whoever tries to hold her in is holding in the wind

This continues verse 15. Trying to contain her quarrelling is like trying to shut the wind in a box.

and catching oil in his right hand.

A second picture of the impossible. Oil slips through the fingers however tightly you close them. The point of both lines is that this kind of strife cannot be managed or controlled by force.

צפן · tsaphan · hide, store away: To hide or store up. The same verb is used in both halves of the line: whoever hides her hides wind.
רוח · ruach · breath, wind, spirit: Wind here: something that cannot be shut in.
שמן · shemen · oil: The oil of verse 9, here as something that cannot be gripped.
ימין · yamin · right hand: The stronger hand. Even it cannot hold on.

The Hebrew of this verse is obscure. Word for word it is close to: 'those who hide her hide wind, and oil his right hand calls (or meets)'. Versions agree on the general sense, that she cannot be restrained, but differ in how they get there.

Proverbs 27:17

Iron rubbed on iron makes both pieces sharper. In the same way, one person makes another person better.

Iron is sharpened with iron,

A blade is given its edge by rubbing it against something as hard as itself. There is friction, and it produces sharpness.

and a man sharpens the face of his friend.

People work on each other the same way. Honest contact with a friend, including challenge and disagreement, makes a person keener and more effective. You do not get sharp alone.

ברזל · barzel · iron: The hardest common metal of the time, used for tools and blades.
חדד · chadad · be sharp, sharpen: To make keen. The same verb is used in both lines.
פני רע · penei rea · face of his friend: Literally the face of his friend. Panim is the face, a person's bearing and presence; rea is the friend of verses 9, 10 and 14.

Proverbs 27:18

If you look after a fig tree, you get to eat its figs. If you look after the person you work for, you will be praised.

Whoever looks after a fig tree will eat its fruit,

A fig tree needs years of care before it bears well. The one who puts in that patient attention is the one who eats.

and whoever watches over his master will be honored.

Service works like farming. A servant or employee who looks after his master's interests faithfully over time will be rewarded with honor. Steady loyalty pays in the end, as tending a tree does.

נצר · natsar · guard, keep watch: To watch over and protect. The word for guarding a vineyard or a city.
תאנה · te'enah · fig tree: One of the staple fruit trees of Israel. Sitting under one's own fig tree was the picture of security (1 Kings 4:25).
פרי · peri · fruit, produce: What a thing naturally yields to the one who worked for it.
שמר · shamar · keep, guard: To keep or guard. A close partner of the verb in the first line.
אדון · adon · lord, master: The one a servant answers to.
כבד · kaved · be honored: From the root meaning heavy, the same root as heavier in verse 3. Here the weight is honor.

Proverbs 27:19

Look into water and you see your own face. Look into your heart and you see what you are really like.

As water shows a face to the face,

Look into still water and your own face looks back at you. Water was the common mirror.

so the heart of a person shows the person.

The heart does what the water does. What is in a person's heart, what he thinks about and wants, shows what he really is. It can also be read as: you come to know yourself by seeing your own heart reflected in another person.

מים · mayim · water: Still water as a reflecting surface.
פנים · panim · face: The Hebrew is extremely brief: like water, the face to the face.
לב · lev · heart, mind: The inner person. It is the true likeness, as the face is the outer one.
אדם · adam · human being: Humankind or a human being, used twice in the line and again in verse 20.

The Hebrew has no verb: 'like water, face to face, so the heart of man to man'. It can mean a person sees himself in his own heart, or that one person's heart is mirrored in another's. Versions differ, and both readings fit the words.

Proverbs 27:20

The grave never gets full, and death never says it has had enough. People's eyes are the same, because they always want more.

The grave and Destruction are never full,

Death keeps taking people and never reaches a point where it has enough. It is the standard picture of an appetite without a limit.

and human eyes are never full either.

Human desire is set beside death as its equal. The eyes see and want, and getting what they wanted does not stop them wanting. The verse states a fact about desire so the reader does not expect to be satisfied by getting more.

שאול · she'ol · the grave: The realm of the dead, pictured as a mouth that is never filled (30:15-16; Isaiah 5:14).
אבדון · avaddon · place of destruction: From abad, to perish. A name for the place of the dead, paired with Sheol also in 15:11.
שבע · sava · be full, sated: The verb is repeated in both lines. Verse 7 described a person who was full; the eyes never are.
עין · ayin · eye: The eye as the organ of wanting. Compare Ecclesiastes 1:8.

Proverbs 27:21

Fire shows whether silver and gold are real. What you do when people praise you shows what you are really like.

A crucible for silver and a furnace for gold,

Heat is how metal is tested. In the fire the real metal is separated from what is not.

and a man is tested by the praise he receives.

Praise does to a person what the furnace does to metal. How he handles being praised shows what he is made of: whether it makes him proud and careless or leaves him steady.

מצרף · matsreph · refining pot: From a verb meaning to smelt or refine. The pot in which silver is melted.
כסף · keseph · silver: Silver, also the general word for money.
כור · kur · smelting furnace: A smelting furnace. The same first line opens 17:3, where it is the LORD who tests hearts.
זהב · zahav · gold: The most valuable metal, and the one refined at the highest heat.
מהלל · mahalal · praise: A noun from halal, the verb of verses 1 and 2. It occurs only here.

The second line is literally 'and a man according to his praise'. Most take it as the NASB does: praise tests a person. It can also mean a person is assessed by his reputation, or known by what he himself praises.

Proverbs 27:22

You could pound a fool like grain in a bowl, and you still could not get the silliness out of him.

Even if you pound a fool in a mortar with a pestle, in among the grain,

Pounding grain in a mortar knocks the husk off the kernel. The picture imagines doing that to a fool, the most thorough beating possible.

his folly will not come off him.

Husk separates from grain, but folly does not separate from the stubborn fool. No amount of punishment or hardship removes it, because it is not a coating on him. It is what he has chosen to be.

כתש · katash · pound, crush: To pound fine. The verb occurs only here; the word for mortar is formed from it.
אויל · evil · stubborn fool: The fool of verse 3. There his anger was a weight on others; here nothing can change him.
מכתש · maktesh · mortar: A hollowed stone bowl for pounding.
עלי · eli · pestle: The pounding tool. The word occurs only here.
ריפות · riphot · grain, groats: Grain being husked or crushed. The word appears elsewhere only in 2 Samuel 17:19.
אולת · ivvelet · folly: The noun related to evil: his folly, as much a part of him as his name.
סור · sur · turn aside, depart: To turn away or be removed. Literally it will not depart from upon him.

Grain was husked by pounding it in a stone mortar with a heavy pestle, which loosened the hulls so they could be winnowed away.

Proverbs 27:23

Know just how your sheep are doing. Take good care of your goats and cows.

Know thoroughly how your flock looks,

A closing poem begins. The owner is told to know his animals closely and in person: their health, their numbers, their needs.

and set your mind on your herds.

The same instruction in other words. Give them real attention. What you live from must be looked after and not left to run itself.

ידע · yada · know by experience: The verb is doubled in Hebrew (knowing, you shall know), which makes it emphatic.
פנים · panim · face: Literally the face of your flock. A good shepherd knows his animals by sight, one by one.
צאן · tson · sheep and goats: Small livestock, sheep and goats together.
שית לב · shit lev · set the heart: Literally set your heart. The heart is where attention is directed from.
עדר · eder · herd, flock: A drove of animals kept together.

Proverbs 27:24

Money does not last for ever. Even a king's crown does not stay in the family for ever.

For stored wealth does not last forever,

This is the reason for verse 23. Treasure that sits in storage gets used up or lost. It does not renew itself.

and does a crown pass on from generation to generation?

Even the highest rank is not secure across time. The question expects the answer no. Since neither wealth nor position can be relied on to continue, a living, renewing source of income deserves your care.

חסן · chosen · stored wealth: Wealth laid up, treasure. Related to a word for strength.
עולם · olam · long duration: Time stretching beyond sight.
נזר · nezer · crown, diadem: The royal diadem (2 Samuel 1:10), a sign of rank and rule.
דור · dor · generation: Literally to generation and generation.

The second line is phrased as a question in Hebrew ('and is a crown for generation after generation?'). The NASB turns it into a statement with the same meaning.

Proverbs 27:25

The hay is cut, and new grass comes up. The grass from the hills is gathered in too.

The hay is taken off and the fresh growth appears,

The yearly cycle of pasture. The first grass is cut and carried away, and new green comes up after it.

and the plants of the hills are gathered in.

Fodder is brought in from the hillsides too. Unlike stored treasure in verse 24, the land gives again every season to the one who works with it.

חציר · chatsir · grass, hay: Grass grown for feed.
גלה · galah · be removed, uncovered: The verb of verse 5, to uncover. Here the grass is cleared away, leaving the ground bare for new growth.
דשא · deshe · fresh green shoots: Tender new grass. The word used in Genesis 1:11.
עשב · esev · green plants: Plants and grasses, here as fodder.
אסף · asaph · gather, collect: To gather, the regular word for bringing in a harvest.

Proverbs 27:26

Then your lambs will give you wool for clothes. You can sell some goats and buy a field.

The lambs will give you your clothing,

The first return on the care commanded in verse 23: wool from the sheep, spun and woven into clothes.

and the goats will be the price of a field.

The second return. Animals can be sold, and the money buys more land. The flock both supplies what you need and lets you grow.

כבש · keves · young ram, lamb: A young sheep, kept for its wool.
לבוש · levush · clothing: Garments. Wool was the main cloth of Israel.
עתוד · attud · he-goat: Male goats, the animals one could spare to sell.
מחיר · mechir · price, payment: What is paid for something.
שדה · sadeh · field, open land: A plot of farmland.

Proverbs 27:27

There will be plenty of goats' milk for you to drink, for your family, and for the helpers who work for you.

And there will be enough goats' milk for your food,

The third return: daily food. Milk and what was made from it were a staple.

for the food of your household,

The supply reaches beyond the owner to everyone under his roof.

and a living for your servant girls.

Even the hired help are provided for. The poem ends on its point: careful attention to ordinary work gives a whole household steady provision, which wealth and rank in verse 24 could not promise.

די · day · sufficiency: What suffices. The promise is enough, not luxury.
חלב · chalav · milk: Goats were the main milk animals in Israel.
לחם · lechem · bread, food: Literally bread, used for food in general. Repeated in the second line.
בית · bayit · house, household: The house, and so everyone who lives in it.
חיים · chayyim · life: Literally life. Here it means what keeps people alive, their living.
נערה · na'arah · young woman, maid: Feminine plural: the young women who served in the household.