Proverbs 26
1 Like snow in summer and rain when the grain is being cut, so honour is not natural for the foolish.
Just [like] [SIM] [it is not appropriate for] snow [to fall] in summer time, or rain [to fall] at harvest time, it is not appropriate to praise/honor foolish people.
2 As the sparrow in her wandering and the swallow in her flight, so the curse does not come without a cause.
Like [SIM] birds that fly by [and do not alight/land on anything], if someone curses you, it cannot hurt you if you (do not deserve them/have not done to him what is wrong).
3 A whip for the horse, a mouth-bit for the ass, and a rod for the back of the foolish.
It is necessary to whip a horse and to put a bridle on a donkey [to force them to go where we want them to go], and similarly [SIM] [it is often necessary to strike] foolish people with a stick [to cause them to do what is right].
4 Do not give to the foolish man a foolish answer, or you will be like him.
If a foolish person asks a foolish question, [do not answer him], because [if you answer his question], you are just as foolish as he is.
5 Give a foolish man a foolish answer, or he will seem wise to himself.
If you give a foolish answer to someone who asks a foolish question, he will realize that he is (not very wise/foolish).
6 He who sends news by the hand of a foolish man is cutting off his feet and drinking in damage.
Anyone who asks a foolish person to take a message to someone [is himself doing something as foolish as] cutting off his own feet or drinking poison.
7 The legs of one who has no power of walking are hanging loose; so is a wise saying in the mouth of the foolish.
A lame man cannot use his legs, and similarly [SIM] [it is useless for] a foolish person to speak [MTY] (proverbs/wise sayings).
8 Giving honour to a foolish man is like attempting to keep a stone fixed in a cord.
Tying a stone in a sling [so that it cannot be thrown at a target] is [as foolish as] [SIM] honoring a foolish person.
9 Like a thorn which goes up into the hand of a man overcome by drink, so is a wise saying in the mouth of a foolish man.
If a drunk person waves some thorns/brambles with his hand, [he is not able to accomplish anything useful by doing that] (OR, [he does not feel it when a thorn sticks in his hand]); similarly, if foolish people speak [MTY] proverbs, [they do not help anyone who hears them].
10 Like an archer wounding all who go by, is a foolish man overcome by drink.
A man who shoots arrows [to try] to wound everybody who is near [is foolish]; similarly, anyone who hires a foolish person [who passes by is very foolish].
11 Like a dog going back to the food which he has not been able to keep down, is the foolish man doing his foolish acts over again.
A foolish person will foolishly do something stupid a second time; it is [like] [SIM] a dog returning to [eat] what it has vomited.
12 Have you seen a man who seems to himself to be wise? There is more hope for the foolish than for him.
[God] can help/bless foolish people more easily than he can help/bless people who are not wise [RHQ], but think that they are wise.
13 The hater of work says, There is a lion in the way; a lion is in the streets.
Lazy people [just stay inside their houses and do nothing]; [they keep] saying “[I think] there is a lion in the street!”
14 A door is turned on its pillar, and the hater of work on his bed.
A door [continually] swings back and forth on its hinges [and does not go anywhere]; similarly [SIM], lazy people [just continually turn over] in their beds [and never do anything].
15 The hater of work puts his hand deep into the basin: lifting it again to his mouth is a weariness to him.
Some people are extremely lazy; they put their hand in a dish [to get some food] but do not [even] lift the food up to their mouths.
16 The hater of work seems to himself wiser than seven men who are able to give an answer with good sense.
Lazy people think that they are wiser than seven/several people who can answer [others’ questions] with good sense.
17 He who gets mixed up in a fight which is not his business, is like one who takes a dog by the ears while it is going by.
Anyone who (meddles/involves himself) in a quarrel that does not concern him is [as foolish as] [SIM] someone who tries to grab a passing dog by its ears.
18 As one who is off his head sends about flaming sticks and arrows of death,
Crazy people who shoot burning arrows to kill people
19 So is the man who gets the better of his neighbour by deceit, and says, Am I not doing so in sport?
are as foolish as those who deceive someone else and [then] say, “I was only joking.”
20 Without wood, the fire goes out; and where there is no secret talk, argument is ended.
If there is no [more] firewood [to put on the fire], the fire will go out; similarly [SIM], if there are no people who (gossip/tell people things that are not true), quarreling will end.
21 Like breath on coals and wood on fire, so a man given to argument gets a fight started.
[Putting] charcoal on burning coals or [putting] wood on a fire [causes the fire to keep burning]; similarly, people who like to quarrel cause people to keep arguing.
22 The words of one who says evil of his neighbour secretly are like sweet food, they go down into the inner parts of the stomach.
People [enjoy listening to what gossips say about others just like] [SIM] they enjoy tasty food; they [enjoy listening to what gossips tell them like] they enjoy swallowing tasty food.
23 Smooth lips and an evil heart are like a vessel of earth plated with silver waste.
People who say nice things when they are thinking about doing evil things are like a nice glaze/covering on a [cheap] clay pot.
24 With his lips the hater makes things seem what they are not, but deceit is stored up inside him;
Those who hate someone and are saying [MTY] something very different from what they are thinking are hypocrites; they are only planning [to harm that person].
25 When he says fair words, have no belief in him; for in his heart are seven evils:
When they say nice things, do not believe them, because in their inner beings are many things that [Yahweh] hates.
26 Though his hate is covered with deceit, his sin will be seen openly before the meeting of the people.
They try to deceive people to cause them to think that they do not hate [that person], but in a public meeting, the people will find out the evil things [that they have done].
27 He who makes a hole in the earth will himself go falling into it: and on him by whom a stone is rolled the stone will come back again.
Those who dig a deep pit [for other people to fall into] will fall into it themselves; rocks will roll down on those who start to cause rocks to roll down [to crush someone].
28 A false tongue has hate for those who have clean hearts, and a smooth mouth is a cause of falling.
Those [MTY] who tell lies to others [really] hate them, and those who deceive [others] ruin them.
