HOLY BIBLE: Proverbs 26 (original) (raw)

20 ἐν πολλοῖς ξύλοις θάλλει πῦρ ὅπου δὲ οὐκ ἔστιν δίθυμος ἡσυχάζει μάχη 21 ἐσχάρα ἄνθραξιν καὶ ξύλα πυρί ἀνὴρ δὲ λοίδορος εἰς ταραχὴν μάχης 22 λόγοι κερκώπων μαλακοί οὗτοι δὲ τύπτουσιν εἰς ταμίεια σπλάγχνων 23 ἀργύριον διδόμενον μετὰ δόλου ὥσπερ ὄστρακον ἡγητέον χείλη λεῖα καρδίαν καλύπτει λυπηράν 24 χείλεσιν πάντα ἐπινεύει ἀποκλαιόμενος ἐχθρός ἐν δὲ τῇ καρδίᾳ τεκταίνεται δόλους 25 ἐάν σου δέηται ὁ ἐχθρὸς μεγάλῃ τῇ φωνῇ μὴ πεισθῇς ἑπτὰ γάρ εἰσιν πονηρίαι ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ αὐτοῦ 26 ὁ κρύπτων ἔχθραν συνίστησιν δόλον ἐκκαλύπτει δὲ τὰς ἑαυτοῦ ἁμαρτίας εὔγνωστος ἐν συνεδρίοις 27 ὁ ὀρύσσων βόθρον τῷ πλησίον ἐμπεσεῖται εἰς αὐτόν ὁ δὲ κυλίων λίθον ἐ{F'} ἑαυτὸν κυλίει 28 γλῶσσα ψευδὴς μισεῖ ἀλήθειαν στόμα δὲ ἄστεγον ποιεῖ ἀκαταστασίας

20 No fuel, no fire; no tell-tale, no quarrel. 21 Coal needs ember, and fire tinder, and strife a quarreller, for their kindling. 22 Innocent enough seem the words of the backbiter, yet their poison sinks deep into a man’s belly.[4] 23 When the heart is wicked, fine talk is but lustre ware. 24 The enemy that has treacherous thoughts is betrayed by his friendly talk;[5] 25 trust him not when he speaks thee fair; here are seven depths of wickedness in a single heart. 26 Vain the pretences that cloak his malice; before the whole assembly it shall be made known; 27 dig pit, and thou shalt fall into it, shift rock, and it shall roll back on thee. 28 Fie on the glib tongues that hate all honesty, the treacherous lips that plot men’s downfall!

20
Cum defecerint ligna extinguetur ignis,
et susurrone subtracto, jurgia conquiescent. 21
Sicut carbones ad prunas, et ligna ad ignem,
sic homo iracundus suscitat rixas. 22
Verba susurronis quasi simplicia,
et ipsa perveniunt ad intima ventris. 23
Quomodo si argento sordido ornare velis vas fictile,
sic labia tumentia cum pessimo corde sociata. 24
Labiis suis intelligitur inimicus,
cum in corde tractaverit dolos. 25
Quando submiserit vocem suam, ne credideris ei,
quoniam septem nequitiæ sunt in corde illius. 26
Qui operit odium fraudulenter,
revelabitur malitia ejus in consilio. 27
Qui fodit foveam incidet in eam,
et qui volvit lapidem revertetur ad eum. 28
Lingua fallax non amat veritatem,
et os lubricum operatur ruinas.

[1] vv. 6-10. The meaning of all these verses is obscure, and the Hebrew text, perhaps, not above suspicion. In verse 8, the Latin follows a rather far-fetched interpretation given by the Talmud; there is no reference to heathen worship in the original. Verse 10 is very variously interpreted; the sense offered by the Latin is perhaps simpler than any other available, but it is not easy to guess what reading it represents in the Hebrew.

[2] See II Pet. 2.22.

[3] vv. 13, 15. See 22.13, 19.24 above.

[4] See 18.8.

[5] In the Hebrew text, ‘dissembles in his talk’.

Knox Translation Copyright © 2013 Westminster Diocese
Nihil Obstat. Father Anton Cowan, Censor.
Imprimatur. +Most Rev. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster. 8th January 2012.
Re-typeset and published in 2012 by Baronius Press Ltd