The second line is one of the most cherished sentences in Proverbs; the first is one of the most textually debated.
Quick answer
Friendship's two ends: the many companions a man collects, and the one friend who out-sticks family. Whichever way the debated first line is read, the point survives: quantity of friends is no substitute for the one who stays.
Read both lines
The second line is the anchor, and it is granite: a friend who sticks, the Hebrew verb of joining and cleaving, closer than a brother, loyalty that holds when kinship itself would let go. The sages, who spent this chapter on quarrels and offended brothers fortified like castles (18:19), close it with the counterweight: such loyalty exists, and one of it outweighs a crowd. On the NKJV's reading the first line adds the practical half: friendship is farmed, not found.
Why translations differ
The NKJV's own footnote lays out the evidence: "must himself be friendly" follows the ancient versions (Greek manuscripts, Syriac, Targum, Vulgate), while the traditional Hebrew text reads "may come to ruin." On the Hebrew reading, the first line is a warning: a man of many companions may be broken by them, shallow friendships failing in the storm, answered by the friend who does not fail. The readings differ for line one, but both deliver the reader to the same second line. This is one of the places where honesty about the text costs the teaching nothing.
From this side of the cross
Christian readers cannot hear this description of enduring friendship without thinking of Jesus, who called His disciples friends (John 15:15) and remained faithful through death. Human friendship at its loyal best is a signpost, and what it points toward has a name.
Related: Proverbs 17:17 · Proverbs 27:10 · John 15:13–15
New King James Version®, Copyright © 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. Full copyright information. Scripture provided by API.Bible.
Go Deeper
If this verse has been used to put weight on you that it was never carrying, ask about it directly.