¶Know well the condition of your flocks, And pay attention to your herds;
Parallel translations
- WEB Know well the state of your flocks, and pay attention to your herds:
- KJV Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds.
- BSB Be sure to know the state of your flocks, and pay close attention to your herds;
- NKJV Be diligent to know the state of your flocks, And attend to your herds;
- NLT Know the state of your flocks, and put your heart into caring for your herds,
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Pay careful attention to the condition of your livestock and resources. It commends diligent, attentive stewardship of what God has entrusted to us.
Overview
Opening a short discourse on diligent care, the proverb urges the herdsman to know the state of his flocks intimately, valuing watchfulness over neglect. It teaches responsible management of God-given resources. This pictures the faithful shepherd's care, fully realized in Christ the Good Shepherd, who knows His sheep by name (John 10:14).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- 1 Pet 5:2Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not under compulsion, but voluntarily, not for dishonest gain, but willingly;
- John 21:15–17So when they had eaten their breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I have affection for you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.”
- Gen 33:13Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are tender, and that the flocks and herds with me have their young, and if they overdrive them one day, all the flocks will die.
- 2 Chr 26:10He built towers in the wilderness, and dug out many cisterns, for he had much livestock; in the lowland also, and in the plain. He had farmers and vineyard keepers in the mountains and in the fruitful fields, for he loved farming.
- Prov 24:32Then I saw, and considered well. I saw, and received instruction:
- John 10:3The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out.
- Ezek 34:31You my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, says the Lord Yahweh.
- Ezek 34:22–24therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.
- Deut 32:46He said to them, “Set your heart to all the words which I testify to you today, which you shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law.
- 1 Chr 27:29–31and over the herds that fed in Sharon was Shitrai the Sharonite; and over the herds that were in the valleys was Shaphat the son of Adlai;
- Gen 31:38–40“These twenty years I have been with you. Your ewes and your female goats have not cast their young, and I haven’t eaten the rams of your flocks.
- 1 Sam 17:28Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab’s anger burned against David, and he said, “Why have you come down? With whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride, and the naughtiness of your heart; for you have come down that you might see the battle.”
- Exod 7:23Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he didn’t even take this to heart.
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Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 27:23 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.