Proverbs 20:2

The king’s terrifying anger ¹  is like the roar of a lion; whoever provokes him ²  sins against himself. ³ 

A king’s wrath is like the roar of a lion; he who angers him forfeits his life.

The terror of a king is like the growling of a lion; He who provokes him to anger forfeits his own life.

The king’s fury is like a lion’s roar; to rouse his anger is to risk your life.

Quick-tempered leaders are like mad dogs--cross them and they bite your head off.

The wrath of a king is like the loud cry of a lion: he who makes him angry does wrong against himself.

The dread anger of a king is like the growling of a lion; anyone who provokes him to anger forfeits life itself.

The wrath of a king is like the roaring of a lion; Whoever provokes him to anger sins against his own life.

The king’s terrifying anger ¹  is like the roar of a lion; whoever provokes him ²  sins against himself. ³ 

¹ tn Heb “the terror of a king” (so ASV, NASB); The term “terror” is a metonymy of effect for cause: the anger of a king that causes terror among the people. The term “king” functions as a possessive genitive: “a king’s anger” (cf. NIV “A king’s wrath”; NLT “The king’s fury”).

² tn The verb מִתְעַבְּרוֹ (mit’abbÿro) is problematic; in the MT the form is the Hitpael participle with a pronominal suffix, which is unusual, for the direct object of this verb usually takes a preposition first: “is angry with.” The LXX rendered it “angers [or, irritates].”

³ sn The expression “sins against himself” has been taken by some to mean “forfeits his life” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV) or “endangers his life” (cf. NCV, NLT). That may be the implication of getting oneself in trouble with an angry king (cf. TEV “making him angry is suicide”).