Proverbiorum 26
1 quomodo nix aestate et pluvia 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 quolibet 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 dorso inprudentium
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 nuntium 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 inponit 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 inprudens 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 stultus
[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 leaena in via leo 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 manus sub ascellas suas et laborat si ad os suum eas 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 adprehendit auribus canem sic qui transit et inpatiens commiscetur rixae 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 lanceas et sagittas et mortem
Crazy people who shoot burning arrows to kill people
19 sic vir qui 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 conquiescunt
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 prunam 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 intellegitur 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 nequitiae 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 concilio
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.
