Birds of Prey Carrying Fire With the Proverbs Talebearer Verseby emmanuel_higgins
26:20Proverbs 26:20
Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth.
Quarreling is fueled the way fire is fueled by wood, so that when the talebearer is absent the strife dies down for lack of its fuel. Hostile talk keeps a conflict burning only as long as people give it attention, while silence and a refusal to argue allow the trouble to die out. Spreading dissension brings its deadly fruit back upon the one who spreads it, leaving that speaker miserable and a stranger to true happiness. The evil talker is therefore to be left alone, with steady faithfulness to one's own work and a refusal to let criticism turn one aside from matters of eternal importance.
Quarreling is fueled the way fire is fueled by wood, so that when the talebearer is absent the strife dies down for lack of its fuel. Hostile talk keeps a conflict burning only as long as people give it attention, while silence and a refusal to argue allow the trouble to die out. Spreading dissension brings its deadly fruit back upon the one who spreads it, leaving that speaker miserable and a stranger to true happiness. The evil talker is therefore to be left alone, with steady faithfulness to one's own work and a refusal to let criticism turn one aside from matters of eternal importance.