Proverbs 26:17-28
New Catholic Bible
How Human Relations Are Perverted[a]
17 Like one who lifts up a stray dog by the ears
is he who meddles in another person’s quarrel.
18 Like a madman shooting at random
his deadly firebrands and arrows,
19 so is the one who deceives his neighbor
and then says, “I was only joking.”
20 When there is no wood, the fire goes out,
and when there is no talebearer, quarreling ceases.
21 Like coal for burning embers and wood for fire,
so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.
22 The whispers of a gossiper are tasty morsels
that corrode one’s inner being.
23 Like glaze that is spread on earthenware
are smooth lips and a spiteful heart.
24 With his lips an enemy may speak fair words,
but deep within he harbors treachery.
25 When he speaks graciously, do not believe him,
for seven abominations[b] lurk in his heart.
26 A man may cloak his hatred with guile,
but his wickedness will be exposed later in the assembly.
27 Whoever digs a pit will fall into it,[c]
and the stone comes back on the one who rolls it.
28 A lying tongue hates its victims,
and a flattering mouth causes devastation.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 26:17 Once anger has allowed it to come to the fore, when will the demon of divisiveness, falsehood, and calumny come to a halt? As fine psychologists, the ancients had noticed how such tendencies deaden the human heart in the manner of a bad ineradicable herb.
- Proverbs 26:25 Seven abominations: i.e., “many.”
- Proverbs 26:27 Whoever digs a pit will fall into it: see Pss 7:16-17; 35:8; 141:10; see also Prov 1:18; 28:10; 29:6; Est 2:23; 7:10; Eccl 10:8-9; Sir 27:25f.
