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 or rain in harvest, so a fool does not deserve honor.

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).

As the sparrow flitters and the swallow darts when they fly, so an undeserved curse does not alight.

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 is for the horse, a bridle is for the donkey and a rod is for the back 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 will become 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 and join in on his folly, so he will not 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.

Whoever sends a message by the hand of a fool cuts off his own feet and drinks violence.

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 the legs of a paralytic which hang down is a proverb in the mouth of fools.

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 tying a stone in a sling is giving 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 goes into the hand of a drunkard is a proverb in the mouth of fools.

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 all those around him is one who hires a fool or hires anyone who passes by.

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 his own vomit, so is a fool who 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 someone 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 lazy person says, “There is a lion on the road! There is a lion between the open places!”

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 the door turns on its hinges, so is the lazy person upon 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 lazy person puts his hand into the dish and yet he has no strength to lift it up to his mouth.

16 Lazy people think that they are wiser than seven/several people who can answer [others’ questions] with good sense.

The lazy person is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who respond with good judgment.

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 takes hold of the ears of a dog, is a passerby who becomes angry at a dispute that is not his own.

18 Crazy people who shoot burning arrows to kill people

Like a madman who shoots burning arrows,

19 are as foolish as those who deceive someone else and [then] say, “I was only joking.”

is the one who deceives his neighbor and says, “Was I not telling a joke?”

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.

For lack of wood, the fire goes out; and where there is no gossiper quarreling 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.

As charcoal is to burning coals and wood is to fire, so is a quarrelsome person 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 delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body.

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 the glaze overlaying an earthen vessel so are burning lips and an evil 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].

One who hates others disguises his feelings with his lips and he lays up deceit within himself.

25 When they say nice things, do not believe them, because in their inner beings are many things that [Yahweh] hates.

He will speak graciously, but do not believe him, for there are seven abominations in 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 covered with 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].

Whoever digs a pit will fall into it and the stone will roll back on the one who pushed it.

28 Those [MTY] who tell lies to others [really] hate them, and those who deceive [others] ruin them.

A lying tongue hates the people it crushes and a flattering mouth brings about ruin.