“Who rejoice in doing evil”: In verse 13 these persons live in darkness, but in this verse they go even farther; they “rejoice”, that is, they are happy in doing evil or living in a wicked way. Contemporary English Version marks the greater intensity in verse 14 with “Most of all they enjoy. . ..” We may also say, for example, “Who are happy when they do bad things” or “They are even glad to do evil deeds.”

“Delight in the perverseness of evil”: “Delight” translates a different word than that used in 1.22, but with the same sense and matching “rejoice” in the first line. “Perverseness” is the same term as used in verse 12 and means little more than the badness of evil. Bible en français courant translates “They enjoy doing bad [things] and take pleasure in wickedness.” We may also say, for example, “They feel good when they do bad things and when they deceive people,” or, using a verb in each line, “They enjoy doing evil and are happy to tell lies.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Proverbs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .