Proverbs 26:1-3
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 26[a]
1 Like snow in summer, like rain in harvest,
honor for a fool is out of place.[b]
2 Like the sparrow in its flitting, like the swallow in its flight,
a curse uncalled-for never lands.[c]
3 The whip for the horse, the bridle for the ass,
and the rod for the back of fools.(A)
Footnotes
- 26:1–28 Concrete images describe the vices of fools (vv. 1–12), of sluggards (vv. 13–16), of meddlers (vv. 17–19), of talebearers (vv. 20–22), and of flatterers (vv. 23–28).
- 26:1 There is no fit (“out of place”) between weather and agricultural season.
- 26:2 The point is the similarity of actions: a hovering bird that never lands, a groundless curse that never “lands.” It hangs in the air posing no threat to anyone.
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