Proverbs 26
26
1It shouldn’t snow in summer or rain at harvest.
Neither should a foolish person ever be honored.
2Curses will not harm someone who is innocent;
they are like sparrows or swallows that fly around and never land.
3Whips are for horses, and harnesses are for donkeys,
so paddles are good for fools.
4Don’t answer fools when they speak foolishly,
or you will be just like them.
5Answer fools when they speak foolishly,
or they will think they are really wise.
6Sending a message by a foolish person
is like cutting off your feet or drinking poison.
7A wise saying spoken by a fool
is as useless as the legs of a crippled person.
8Giving honor to a foolish person
is like tying a stone in a slingshot.
9A wise saying spoken by a fool
is like a thorn stuck in the hand of a drunk.
10Hiring a foolish person or anyone just passing by
is like an archer shooting at just anything.
11A fool who repeats his foolishness
is like a dog that goes back to what it has thrown up.
12There is more hope for a foolish person
than for those who think they are wise.
13The lazy person says, “There’s a lion in the road!
There’s a lion in the streets!”
14Like a door turning back and forth on its hinges,
the lazy person turns over and over in bed.
15Lazy people may put their hands in the dish,
but they are too tired to lift the food to their mouths.
16The lazy person thinks he is wiser
than seven people who give sensible answers.
17Interfering in someone else’s quarrel as you pass by
is like grabbing a dog by the ears.
18Like a madman shooting
deadly, burning arrows
19is the one who tricks a neighbor
and then says, “I was just joking.”
20Without wood, a fire will go out,
and without gossip, quarreling will stop.
21Just as charcoal and wood keep a fire going,
a quarrelsome person keeps an argument going.
22The words of a gossip are like tasty bits of food;
people like to gobble them up.
23Kind words from a wicked mind
are like a shiny coating on a clay pot.
24Those who hate you may try to fool you with their words,
but in their minds they are planning evil.
25People’s words may be kind, but don’t believe them,
because their minds are full of evil thoughts.
26Lies can hide hate,
but the evil will be plain to everyone.
27Whoever digs a pit for others will fall into it.
Whoever tries to roll a boulder down on others will be crushed by it.
28Liars hate the people they hurt,
and false praise can ruin others.
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Proverbs 26
26
1Like snow in summer, like rain in harvest,
honor for a fool is out of place.#There is no fit (“out of place”) between weather and agricultural season.
2Like the sparrow in its flitting, like the swallow in its flight,
a curse uncalled-for never lands.#The point is the similarity of actions: a hovering bird that never lands, a groundless curse that never “lands.” It hangs in the air posing no threat to anyone.
3The whip for the horse, the bridle for the ass,
and the rod for the back of fools.#Prv 19:29; Sir 33:25.
4#There is no contradiction between these two proverbs. In their answers, the wise must protect their own interests against fools. Or perhaps the juxtaposition of the two proverbs suggests that no single proverb can resolve every problem in life. Do not answer fools according to their folly,
lest you too become like them.
5Answer fools according to their folly,
lest they become wise in their own eyes.
6Those who send messages by a fool
cut off their feet; they drink down violence.
7#Fools either abuse or are unable to use whatever knowledge they have. A thorn: a proverb is “words spoken at the proper time” (25:11). Fools have no sense of the right time; their statements are like thorns that fasten on clothing randomly. A proverb in the mouth of a fool
hangs limp, like crippled legs.
8Giving honor to a fool
is like entangling a stone in the sling.
9A thorn stuck in the hand of a drunkard
is a proverb in the mouth of fools.
10An archer wounding all who pass by
is anyone who hires a drunken fool.
11As dogs return to their vomit,
so fools repeat their folly.#2 Pt 2:22.
12You see those who are wise in their own eyes?
There is more hope for fools than for them.
13#Each verse mentions the sluggard, whom Proverbs regards with derision. The criticism is not against low energy but failure to act and take responsibility. Proverbs’ ideal is the active person who uses heart, lips, hands, feet to keep to the good path. The verses are examples of the sardonic humor of the book. The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the street,
a lion in the middle of the square!”#Prv 22:13.
14The door turns on its hinges
and sluggards, on their beds.
15The sluggard buries a hand in the dish,
too weary to lift it to the mouth.#Prv 19:24.
16In their own eyes sluggards are wiser
than seven who answer with good judgment.
17Whoever meddles in the quarrel of another
is one who grabs a passing dog by the ears.
18Like a crazed archer
scattering firebrands and deadly arrows,
19Such are those who deceive their neighbor,
and then say, “I was only joking.”
20#The three proverbs have a common theme—the destructive power of slanderous words. Certain words are repeated: wood and fire, talebearer. Without wood the fire dies out;
without a talebearer strife subsides.
21Charcoal for coals, wood for fire—
such are the quarrelsome, enkindling strife.#Prv 15:18; 29:22.
22The words of a talebearer are like dainty morsels:
they sink into one’s inmost being.#Malicious gossip is compared to delicious food that is swallowed and lodges in the deepest recesses of one’s body. Negative comments are seldom forgotten. Prv 18:8 is a duplicate. #Prv 18:8.
23Like a glazed finish on earthenware
are smooth lips and a wicked heart.#Heart = what is within, and lips (words) = what is expressed, are compared to an earthenware jar covered with glaze.
24With their lips enemies pretend,
but inwardly they maintain deceit;
25When they speak graciously, do not trust them,#Sir 12:10; 27:33.
for seven abominations#Seven abominations: many evil intentions. are in their hearts.
26Hatred can be concealed by pretense,
but malice will be revealed in the assembly.#Hate may be concealed for a time, but it will eventually issue in a deed and become known in the public assembly. There is a play on words: the consonants of the word “hatred” (ś’n) are literally concealed in the word “pretense” (mś’n).
27Whoever digs a pit falls into it;
and a stone comes back upon the one who rolls it.#Eccl 10:8; Sir 27:25–26.
28The lying tongue is its owner’s enemy,
and the flattering mouth works ruin.
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