< Proverbs 26 >
1 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.
Like snow in summer and rain at harvest, honor does not befit a fool.
2 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).
Like a fluttering sparrow or darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest.
3 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].
A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the backs of fools!
4 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.
Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be like him.
5 If you give a foolish answer to someone who asks a foolish question, he will realize that he is (not very wise/foolish).
Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he become wise in his own eyes.
6 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.
Like cutting off one’s own feet or drinking violence is the sending of a message by the hand of a fool.
7 A lame man cannot use his legs, and similarly [SIM] [it is useless for] a foolish person to speak [MTY] (proverbs/wise sayings).
Like lame legs hanging limp is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
8 Tying a stone in a sling [so that it cannot be thrown at a target] is [as foolish as] [SIM] honoring a foolish person.
Like binding a stone into a sling is the giving of honor to a fool.
9 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].
Like a thorn that falls into the hand of a drunkard is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
10 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].
Like an archer who wounds at random is he who hires a fool or passerby.
11 A foolish person will foolishly do something stupid a second time; it is [like] [SIM] a dog returning to [eat] what it has vomited.
As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.
12 [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.
Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
13 Lazy people [just stay inside their houses and do nothing]; [they keep] saying “[I think] there is a lion in the street!”
The slacker says, “A lion is in the road! A fierce lion roams the public square!”
14 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].
As a door turns on its hinges, so the slacker turns on his bed.
15 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.
The slacker buries his hand in the dish; it wearies him to bring it back to his mouth.
16 Lazy people think that they are wiser than seven/several people who can answer [others’ questions] with good sense.
The slacker is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who answer discreetly.
17 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.
Like one who grabs a dog by the ears is a passerby who meddles in a quarrel not his own.
18 Crazy people who shoot burning arrows to kill people
Like a madman shooting firebrands and deadly arrows,
19 are as foolish as those who deceive someone else and [then] say, “I was only joking.”
so is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, “I was only joking!”
20 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.
Without wood, a fire goes out; without gossip, a conflict ceases.
21 [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.
Like charcoal for embers and wood for fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.
22 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.
The words of a gossip are like choice morsels that go down into the inmost being.
23 People who say nice things when they are thinking about doing evil things are like a nice glaze/covering on a [cheap] clay pot.
Like glaze covering an earthen vessel are burning lips and a wicked heart.
24 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].
A hateful man disguises himself with his speech, but he lays up deceit in his heart.
25 When they say nice things, do not believe them, because in their inner beings are many things that [Yahweh] hates.
When he speaks graciously, do not believe him, for seven abominations fill his heart.
26 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].
Though his hatred is concealed by deception, his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.
27 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].
He who digs a pit will fall into it, and he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him.
28 Those [MTY] who tell lies to others [really] hate them, and those who deceive [others] ruin them.
A lying tongue hates those it crushes, and a flattering mouth causes ruin.