Translations
F.O.G.MPrimary
F.O.G MessageA righteous person who collapses before the wicked is like a muddied spring and a corrupted well — what should refresh now only contaminates.
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.GA trampled spring and a polluted fountain — such is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked.
KJV
King James VersionA righteous man falling down before the wicked is as a troubled fountain, and a corrupt spring.
BSB
Berean Standard BibleLike a muddied spring or a polluted well is a righteous man who gives way to the wicked.
Footnotes
נִרְפָּשׁ (*nirpash*) — 'muddied/trampled,' from a root meaning to tread water into mud. The image is of a fresh spring made unusable not by drought but by corruption — it still flows, but now poisons rather than nourishes. The righteous person's capitulation before evil is not merely a personal failure; it actively harms those who depended on them for moral clarity and courage. FOG preserves 'trampled spring' for the physical vividness; FOG Message draws out the contamination dynamic explicitly, making the communal cost of moral compromise audible.
