Proverbiorum 26
1 Quomodo nix in æstate, et pluviæ in messe: sic indecens est stulto gloria.
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 Sicut avis ad alia transvolans, et passer quo libet vadens: sic maledictum frustra prolatum in quempiam superveniet.
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 Flagellum equo, et camus asino, et virga in dorso imprudentium.
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 Ne respondeas stulto iuxta stultitiam suam, ne efficiaris ei similis.
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 Responde stulto iuxta stultitiam suam, ne sibi sapiens esse videatur.
If you give a foolish answer to someone who asks a foolish question, he will realize that he is (not very wise/foolish).
6 Claudus pedibus, et iniquitatem bibens, qui mittit verba per nuncium stultum.
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 Quomodo pulchras frustra habet claudus tibias: sic indecens est in ore stultorum parabola.
A lame man cannot use his legs, and similarly [SIM] [it is useless for] a foolish person to speak [MTY] (proverbs/wise sayings).
8 Sicut qui mittit lapidem in acervum Mercurii: ita qui tribuit insipienti honorem.
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 Quomodo si spina nascatur in manu temulenti: sic parabola in ore stultorum.
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 Iudicium determinat causas: et qui imponit stulto silentium, iras mitigat.
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 Sicut canis, qui revertitur ad vomitum suum, sic imprudens, qui iterat stultitiam suam.
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 Vidisti hominem sapientem sibi videri? magis illo spem habebit insipiens.
[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 Dicit piger: Leo est in via, et leæna in itineribus:
Lazy people [just stay inside their houses and do nothing]; [they keep] saying “[I think] there is a lion in the street!”
14 sicut ostium vertitur in cardine suo, ita piger in lectulo suo.
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 Abscondit piger manum sub ascella sua, et laborat si ad os suum eam converterit.
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 Sapientior sibi piger videtur septem viris loquentibus sententias.
Lazy people think that they are wiser than seven/several people who can answer [others’ questions] with good sense.
17 Sicut qui apprehendit auribus canem, sic qui transit impatiens, et commiscetur rixæ alterius.
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 Sicut noxius est qui mittit sagittas, et lanceas in mortem:
Crazy people who shoot burning arrows to kill people
19 ita vir, fraudulenter nocet amico suo: et cum fuerit deprehensus, dicit: Ludens feci.
are as foolish as those who deceive someone else and [then] say, “I was only joking.”
20 Cum defecerint ligna, extinguetur ignis: et susurrone subtracto, iurgia conquiescent.
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 Sicut carbones ad prunas, et ligna ad ignem, sic homo iracundus suscitat rixas.
[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 Verba susurronis quasi simplicia, et ipsa perveniunt ad intima ventris.
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 Quomodo si argento sordido ornare velis vas fictile, sic labia tumentia cum pessimo corde sociata.
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 Labiis suis intelligitur inimicus, cum in corde tractaverit dolos.
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 Quando submiserit vocem suam, ne credideris ei: quoniam septem nequitiæ sunt in corde illius.
When they say nice things, do not believe them, because in their inner beings are many things that [Yahweh] hates.
26 Qui operit odium fraudulenter, revelabitur malitia eius in consilio.
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 Qui fodit foveam, incidet in eam: et qui volvit lapidem, revertetur ad eum.
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 Lingua fallax non amat veritatem: et os lubricum operatur ruinas.
Those [MTY] who tell lies to others [really] hate them, and those who deceive [others] ruin them.
