Reader's Diary #695- The Good News Bible: Proverbs

If reading the Bible teaches you anything it's patience. There's a lot of detail and a lot of repetition. The Book of Proverbs isn't so bad for details, but Holy Bible there's a lot of repetition. Of course since proverbs are words of advice, maybe that's the point. It's like all those no-smoking messages. By now everyone knows smoking is bad for you. I'm guessing the hope is that by repeating that message over and over, it'll sink in and pop in a teen's head the moment they reach for a cigarette. Of course, repetition might also make us immune to the message, but that's the pessimistic view of things.

For 31 chapters of Proverbs, there's really only a handful of messages:
1. Don't be stupid.
2. Don't be evil.
3. Don't be greedy.
4. Don't be cocky.

There's a few others, but those are the biggies.

Though I could have done without all the repetition, I did enjoy all the similes. I know the Psalms gets all the credit for being the poetry of the Bible, but there's some pretty creative figurative language in Proverbs as well. How about this one?

Beauty in a woman without good judgment is like a gold ring in a pig's snout.

And there's some unexpected good advice as well:

Watch out for people who grin and wink at you; they have thought of something evil.



;)