箴言 26

1 有如夏日下雪，秋收降雨，不合時令；同樣愚昧的人獲得光榮，亦不適宜。

Like snow in summer and rain when the grain is being cut, so honour is not natural for the foolish.

2 有如麻雀逃走，燕子飛去：無端的咒罵，也一去無蹤。

As the sparrow in her wandering and the swallow in her flight, so the curse does not come without a cause.

3 馬需要皮鞭，驢需要轡頭，愚昧人的脊背需要棍棒。

A whip for the horse, a mouth-bit for the ass, and a rod for the back of the foolish.

4 回答愚昧人，別照樣愚昧，免得你也像他一樣；

Do not give to the foolish man a foolish answer, or you will be like him.

5 回答愚昧人，有時應愚昧，免得他自以為聰明。

Give a foolish man a foolish answer, or he will seem wise to himself.

6 派遣愚昧人，去作傳話者，是自斷己足，是自尋苦惱。

He who sends news by the hand of a foolish man is cutting off his feet and drinking in damage.

7 猶如跛子的腳虛懸無力，箴言在愚人口中也是如此。

The legs of one who has no power of walking are hanging loose; so is a wise saying in the mouth of the foolish.

8 將光榮體面授給愚昧人，無異將寶石投在石堆裏。

Giving honour to a foolish man is like attempting to keep a stone fixed in a cord.

9 箴言在愚人口中，猶如荊棘在醉漢手中。

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.

10 雇用愚人或過路人的人，無異射傷眾人的弓箭手。

Like an archer wounding all who go by, is a foolish man overcome by drink.

11 愚人一再重複他的愚行，猶如狗再來吃牠嘔吐之物。

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.

12 你是否見過自作聰明的人﹖寄望於愚人必寄望於他更好。

Have you seen a man who seems to himself to be wise? There is more hope for the foolish than for him.

13 懶惰人常說：「路上有猛獅，街市有壯獅。」

The hater of work says, There is a lion in the way; a lion is in the streets.

14 懶人在床榻上輾轉，猶如門扇在樞紐上旋轉。

A door is turned on its pillar, and the hater of work on his bed.

15 懶人伸手在盤中取食，送到口邊也感到辛苦。

The hater of work puts his hand deep into the basin: lifting it again to his mouth is a weariness to him.

16 懶惰人自認為聰明人，遠勝過七個善於應對的人。

The hater of work seems to himself wiser than seven men who are able to give an answer with good sense.

17 干涉與己無關的爭端，有如抓過路狗的尾巴。

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.

18 誰騙了人而後說：「我只開玩笑! 」

As one who is off his head sends about flaming sticks and arrows of death,

19 猶如狂人投擲火把、利箭和死亡。

So is the man who gets the better of his neighbour by deceit, and says, Am I not doing so in sport?

20 沒有木柴，火即熄滅；沒有讒言，爭端即息。

Without wood, the fire goes out; and where there is no secret talk, argument is ended.

21 誰惹事生非，挑撥爭端，是在火炭上加炭，火上加柴。

Like breath on coals and wood on fire, so a man given to argument gets a fight started.

22 進讒者的話，如可口美味，能深深透入肺腑的深處。

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.

23 口蜜腹劍的人，有如塗上銀的陶器。

Smooth lips and an evil heart are like a vessel of earth plated with silver waste.

24 懷恨他人的，善措詞掩飾；但在他心底，卻藏有陰險。

With his lips the hater makes things seem what they are not, but deceit is stored up inside him;

25 誰聲調過柔，你不要相信；因在他心中，藏有七種惡。

When he says fair words, have no belief in him; for in his heart are seven evils:

26 仇恨雖可以詭計來掩飾，但在集會中險惡必敗露。

Though his hate is covered with deceit, his sin will be seen openly before the meeting of the people.

27 挖掘陷阱的必自陷其中，滾轉石頭的必為石所壓。

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.

28 撒謊的唇舌，必痛恨真理；諂媚的嘴臉必製造喪亡。

A false tongue has hate for those who have clean hearts, and a smooth mouth is a cause of falling.