Proverbs 26
26
1Honoring someone stupid is as inappropriate as snow in the summer or rain during harvest.
2A curse that isn't deserved won't land on the person, like a fluttering sparrow or a flitting swallow.
3Horses need a whip, donkeys need a bridle, and stupid people need a rod on their backs!
4Don't answer stupid people following their stupidity, or you'll become as bad as them.
5Answer stupid people following their stupidity, otherwise they'll think they're wise.#26:5. While this verse appears to contradict the previous one, there is a play on words here. In the first, “following their stupidity” means “agreeing with it.” In the second, the phrase means “as it deserves.”
6Trusting someone stupid to deliver a message is like cutting off your feet or drinking poison.
7A proverb spoken by someone stupid is as useless as a lame person's legs.
8Honoring someone stupid is as pointless as tying a stone into a sling.#26:8. For if the stone is tied in, the slingshot cannot function.
9A proverb spoken by someone stupid is as ridiculous as a thorn bush waved around by a drunk.
10Anyone who hires someone stupid or just a passer-by is like an archer wounding people by shooting arrows at random.#26:10. The Hebrew of this verse is unclear.
11Stupid people repeat their stupidity like a dog returning to its vomit.
12Have you seen a man who is wise in his own eyes? There's more hope for stupid people than for him!
13Lazy people are the ones who say, “There's a lion on the road—a lion running around the streets!”#26:13. In other words, they make excuses for not going out to work.
14A lazy person turns in bed like a door turns on its hinge.
15Lazy people put their hands in a dish, but are too tired to lift the food to their mouths.
16In their own eyes lazy people are wiser than many#26:16. In the text the number seven is given, symbolic of a large number, completion. This is used in a similar way in verse 25. sensible advisors.
17Interfering in someone else's quarrel is like grabbing a stray dog by the ears.
18You're like a crazy person firing off blazing arrows and killing people
19if you lie to your friend and then say, “I was only joking!”
20Without wood, the fire goes out; and without gossips, arguments stop.
21An argumentative person fires up quarrels like putting charcoal on hot embers or wood on a fire.
22Listening to gossip is like gulping down bites of your favorite food—they go deep down inside you.
23Smooth#26:23. Septuagint reading. talking with evil intent is like a shiny lead glaze on an earthenware pot.#26:23. The implication here is that like a fine finish given to a cheap pot, pleasant words can mask bad motives.
24People say nice things to you even though they hate you; deep down they're just lying to you.
25When people talk nicely to you, don't believe them—their minds are full of hate for you.
26Even though their hatred may be hidden by cunning tricks, their evil will be revealed to everyone.
27Those who dig pits to trap others will fall in themselves, and those who start boulders rolling will be crushed themselves.
28If you tell lies, you show you hate your victims; if you flatter people, you cause disaster.
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Proverbs 26: FBV
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com
Proverbs 26
26
1 Like snow in summer, and as rain in harvest,
so honor is not fitting for a fool.
2 Like a fluttering sparrow,
like a darting swallow,
so the undeserved curse doesn’t come to rest.
3 A whip is for the horse,
a bridle for the donkey,
and a rod for the back of fools!
4Don’t answer a fool according to his folly,
lest you also be like him.
5 Answer a fool according to his folly,
lest he be wise in his own eyes.
6 One who sends a message by the hand of a fool
is cutting off feet and drinking violence.
7 Like the legs of the lame that hang loose,
so is a parable in the mouth of fools.
8 As one who binds a stone in a sling,
so is he who gives honor to a fool.
9 Like a thorn bush that goes into the hand of a drunkard,
so is a parable in the mouth of fools.
10 As an archer who wounds all,
so is he who hires a fool
or he who hires those who pass by.
11 As a dog that returns to his vomit,
so is a fool who repeats his folly.
12 Do you see a man wise in his own eyes?
There is more hope for a fool than for him.
13 The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road!
A fierce lion roams the streets!”
14 As the door turns on its hinges,
so does the sluggard on his bed.
15 The sluggard buries his hand in the dish.
He is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth.
16 The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes
than seven men who answer with discretion.
17 Like one who grabs a dog’s ears
is one who passes by and meddles in a quarrel not his own.
18Like a madman who shoots torches, arrows, and death,
19 is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, “Am I not joking?”
20 For lack of wood a fire goes out.
Without gossip, a quarrel dies down.
21As coals are to hot embers,
and wood to fire,
so is a contentious man to kindling strife.
22 The words of a whisperer are as dainty morsels,
they go down into the innermost parts.
23 Like silver dross on an earthen vessel
are the lips of a fervent one with an evil heart.
24 A malicious man disguises himself with his lips,
but he harbors evil in his heart.
25 When his speech is charming, don’t believe him,
for there are seven abominations in his heart.
26 His malice may be concealed by deception,
but his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.
27Whoever digs a pit shall fall into it.
Whoever rolls a stone, it will come back on him.
28 A lying tongue hates those it hurts;
and a flattering mouth works ruin.
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