Like a fluttering sparrow or darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest.
Parallel translations
- WEB Like a fluttering sparrow, like a darting swallow, so the undeserved curse doesn’t come to rest.
- KJV As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come.
- NKJV Like a flitting sparrow, like a flying swallow, So a curse without cause shall not alight.
- NASB Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying, So a curse without cause does not come to rest.
- NLT Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse will not land on its intended victim.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
An undeserved curse has no power to land, like a bird that never settles. Groundless curses do not take effect.
Overview
The proverb reassures that a curse without just cause finds no resting place, flitting away like a darting bird. God governs outcomes, so the innocent need not fear empty maledictions (Num 23:8). It points to the security of those whom God has blessed in Christ, against whom no charge can finally stand (Rom 8:33).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Num 23:8How can I curse what God has not cursed? How can I denounce what the LORD has not denounced?
- Neh 13:2because they had not met the Israelites with food and water, but had hired Balaam to call down a curse against them (although our God had turned the curse into a blessing).
- Ps 109:28Though they curse, You will bless. When they rise up, they will be put to shame, but Your servant will rejoice.
- 2 Sam 16:12Perhaps the LORD will see my affliction and repay me with good for the cursing I receive today.”
- Deut 23:4–5For they did not meet you with food and water on your way out of Egypt, and they hired Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in Aram-naharaim to curse you.
- 1 Sam 17:43“Am I a dog,” he said to David, “that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.
- Prov 27:8Like a bird that strays from its nest is a man who wanders from his home.
- 1 Sam 14:28–29Then one of the soldiers told him, “Your father bound the troops with a solemn oath, saying, ‘Cursed is the man who eats food today.’ That is why the people are faint.”
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Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 26:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.