Proverbs 27:10

⁸ Like a bird that strays from its nest is a man who wanders from his home.

⁹ Oil and incense bring joy to the heart, and the sweetness of a friend is counsel to the soul.

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 Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart, so that I can answer him who taunts me.

¹² The prudent see danger and take cover; but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.

Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

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.
KJV: Thine own friend, and thy father’s friend, forsake not; neither go into thy brother’s house in the day of thy calamity: for better is a neighbour that is near than a brother far off.
WEB: Don’t forsake your friend and your father’s friend. Don’t go to your brother’s house in the day of your disaster. A neighbor who is near is better than a distant brother.
ASV: Thine own friend, and thy father`s friend, forsake not; And go not to thy brother`s house in the day of thy calamity: Better is a neighbor that is near than a brother far off.
DARBY: Thine own friend, and thy father's friend, forsake not; and go not into thy brother's house in the day of thy calamity: better is a neighbour that is near than a brother far off.
BLB: Do not forsake your friend, and the friend of your father, and do not enter the house of your brother in the day of your calamity; better a neighbor nearby than a brother far away.

ÅB: Forlat ikke din venn og din fars venn, og kom ikke i din brors hus den dag du er i nød! En granne nær ved er bedre enn en bror langt borte.
OTB: Forsak ikke din venn eller din fars venn, og gå ikke til din brors hus på din ulykkes dag; bedre er en nabo som er nær enn en bror langt borte.
B1930: Forlat ikke din venn og din fars venn, og kom ikke i din brors hus den dag du er i nød! En granne nær ved er bedre enn en bror langt borte.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Proverbs 18:24
A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who stays closer than a brother.
Read in context
Proverbs 17:17
A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
Read in context
1 Kings 12:6–8
Then King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. “How do you advise me to respond to these people?” he asked.
Read in context
Luke 10:30–37
Jesus took up this question and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead.
Read in context
Proverbs 19:7
All the brothers of a poor man hate him— how much more do his friends avoid him! He may pursue them with pleading, but they are nowhere to be found.
Read in context
Obadiah 1:12–14
But you should not gloat in that day, your brother’s day of misfortune, nor rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their destruction, nor boast proudly in the day of their distress.
Read in context
Job 6:21–23
For now you are of no help; you see terror, and you are afraid.
Read in context
2 Samuel 19:24
Then Mephibosheth, Saul’s grandson, went down to meet the king. He had not cared for his feet or trimmed his mustache or washed his clothes from the day the king had left until the day he returned safely.
Read in context