Proverbs 26:18-19

[conuly]

Like a maniac shooting flaming arrows of death
is one who deceives their neighbor and says, “I was only joking!”

...man, I'm gonna start quoting that everywhere from now on. Gosh knows there are a lot of people who need to stop with this.

The KJV translation is less snappy.

Comments

[gingicat]

Ooh, thank you.

[quirkytizzy]

I feel like this would be appropriate in both a video game and in Bible study, which makes it one of the coolest things evah.

[bibliofile]

In this case, snappy is good and certainly more useful. Now we just need flaming-arrow-of-death icons and stickers & stuff.

Is that your own translation? Because I'd read more of that Bible.

[steorra]

It's the New International Version. The translation here seems decent enough, but in general I wouldn't recommend the NIV as an accurate translation. I worked for a while for a company that made Bible software, and some of my tasks involved looking at different translations, and I don't know how many times I was grumpy at the NIV for doing something idiosyncratic and often inaccurate for no clear reason.

[landofnowhere]

Huh! Is there a contemporary English translation you would recommend?

[steorra]

Do you mean "contemporary English" just as "not archaic like the KJV", or more than that? If the former:

The New Revised Standard Version seems to be widely used as an academic standard. I tend to prefer the English Standard Version. Of course, no translation is perfect.

I do tend to prefer more-literal over less-literal translations, but I understand the motivation behind less-literal translations that are trying to catch the feel of the text. I think there are less-literal translations that are still more accurate than the NIV, but it's been several years since I was looking at comparisons in depth, so I can't specifically remember my evaluations of the options.

[conuly]

Thanks :)

I linked to the KJV under the hunch that most English-speakers are vaguely familiar with it, at least.

[landofnowhere]

Yep, probably should have just said "modern". Thanks for the suggestions!

[steorra]

You're welcome!

[conuly]

LMAO no. I do not speak Hebrew (nor Greek, nor Aramaic, nor any other language that might be useful in translating any book of the Bible, by any religious group.)

I stole it from Bible Gateway, just didn't link to it.

[silveradept]

I like your arrangement better. Gets the point across nicely.

[conuly]

Oh, it's not mine, it's the NIV. I just forgot to link it properly. (It was late!)

https://biblehub.com/proverbs/26-18.htm

[silveradept]

Oh. Well, that's a remarkably useful arrangement, in this case, even if the NIV is not my reference work for good translation.

[conuly]

That's probably why you haven't come across that translation before, then. I'll go with whatever is snappiest, in this case.

[zesty_pinto]

I'm beginning to see where all these Holocaust deniers are getting their tactics from.

I note this tendency from some of these "not nazis" to simultaneously deny they did something wrong while also claiming it's a joke. Basically owning up to doing it while doubling down on it at the same time.

[archangelbeth]

HA! This is kind of awesome.

[marahmarie]

But am I not in sport, old chap? Would work in The Great Gatsby just fine.

[fayanora]

Fucking epic!

My favorite Bible quotes:

Matthew 6:1

"Be careful not to perform your righteous acts before men to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be praised by men. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward.…"

1 Timothy 5:8

"If anyone does not provide for his own, and especially his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever."


I love throwing those at shitty so-called Christians. The first one is especially fun to use against street preachers.

[gale_storm]

Huh. I like the one attributed to the Aramaic Bible in Plain English, 'Just as a braggart casts words like sharp arrows of death'.

[mme-n-b.livejournal.com]

This is awesome. I'm going to put a calendar reminder and spam just the verse reference everywhere on April 1st saying that I've seen the light.