Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come back, And tomorrow I will give it,” When you have it with you.
Parallel translations
- WEB Don’t say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again; tomorrow I will give it to you,” when you have it by you.
- KJV Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee.
- BSB Do not tell your neighbor, “Come back tomorrow and I will provide”—when you already have the means.
- NASB Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come back, And tomorrow I will give it to you,” When you have it with you.
- NLT If you can help your neighbor now, don’t say, “Come back tomorrow, and then I’ll help you.”
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
Do not put off helping your neighbor when you have the means now. Wisdom gives promptly rather than delaying needed good.
Overview
Building on v. 27, the verse condemns needless delay in doing good, treating a neighbor's real need as a thing to be deferred. Such procrastination often masks unwillingness. Christian love acts readily and now, reflecting the God who is generous and ready to give (Jas 1:5).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Lev 19:13“‘You shall not oppress your neighbor, nor rob him. “‘The wages of a hired servant shall not remain with you all night until the morning.
- Deut 24:12–15If he is a poor man, you shall not sleep with his pledge.
- 2 Cor 8:11But now complete the doing also, that as there was the readiness to be willing, so there may be the completion also out of your ability.
- Eccl 9:10Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol, where you are going.
- Eccl 11:6In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening don’t withhold your hand; for you don’t know which will prosper, whether this or that, or whether they both will be equally good.
- 1 Tim 6:18that they do good, that they be rich in good works, that they be ready to distribute, willing to communicate;
- 2 Cor 9:3But I have sent the brothers that our boasting on your behalf may not be in vain in this respect, that, just as I said, you may be prepared,
- Prov 27:1Don’t boast about tomorrow; for you don’t know what a day may bring.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 3:28 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.