Like a flitting sparrow, like a flying swallow, So a curse without cause shall not alight.
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.
- BSB Like a fluttering sparrow or darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest.
- 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 shall I curse whom God has not cursed? How shall I defy whom Yahweh has not defied?
- Neh 13:2because they didn’t meet the children of Israel with bread and with water, but hired Balaam against them, to curse them; however our God turned the curse into a blessing.
- Ps 109:28They may curse, but you bless. When they arise, they will be shamed, but your servant shall rejoice.
- 2 Sam 16:12It may be that Yahweh will look on the wrong done to me, and that Yahweh will repay me good for the cursing of me today.”
- Deut 23:4–5because they didn’t meet you with bread and with water on the way, when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you.
- 1 Sam 17:43The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” The Philistine cursed David by his gods.
- Prov 27:8As a bird that wanders from her nest, so is a man who wanders from his home.
- 1 Sam 14:28–29Then one of the people answered, and said, “Your father directly commanded the people with an oath, saying, ‘Cursed is the man who eats food today.’” The people were 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.