Proverbs 16:27 Living Bible (TLB) Idle hands are the devil’s workshop; idle lips are his mouthpiece.

We find ourselves with endless hours of nothing new to do during this court ordered shelter in place. Here is an exercise of a Godly variety. Check out this scripture for accuracy of translation. All are Proverbs 16:27.

CEV – Worthless people plan trouble. Even their words burn like a flaming fire.

ERV – Troublemakers create disasters. Their advice destroys like a wildfire.

ISV – A worthless person concocts evil gossip— his lips are like a burning fire.

MSG – Mean people spread mean gossip; their words smart and burn.

NARBE – Scoundrels are a furnace of evil, and their lips are like a scorching fire.

TPT – A wicked scoundrel wants to dig up dirt on others, only to spread slander and shred their reputation.

Which one of these translations have you heard the most? TLB right? There are a variety of expressions here trying to make sense of this proverb to reach a wide variety of personalities, types, and social groups. How many of these passages miss the mark of translation standards? You would have to know a little Hebrew wouldn’t you? Because we are not all fluent in Hebrew, we rely on translators. Which of these are wide of the mark?

There will be some who say, “What does it matter?” If man takes liberty to tell us what God meant to say, are we listening to man or God? Interpretations have to meet a certain standard of accuracy in order to not change God’s message to us. God speaks through the bible, so it does matter. Just because something sounds good does not make it right. Just because something is quoted often does not make it the word of God.

Notice I did not quote other popular bible versions because they say the same thing. There is consistency of content among those bible versions which should be reassuring to any reader that those translations are accurate.

Thank you for spending a moment of your shelter in place with me.