Proverbs26

¹Like snow in summer or rain in harvest, honor is not fitting for a fool.

²Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest.

³A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the backs of fools!

⁴Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be just like him.

⁵Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes.

⁶Sending a message by the hands of a fool is like cutting off one’s feet or drinking poison.

⁷Like the useless legs of one who is lame is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.

⁸Like tying a stone in a sling is the giving of honor to a fool.

⁹Like a thornbush in a drunkard’s hand is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.

¹⁰Like an archer who wounds at random is one who hires a fool or any passer-by.

¹¹As a dog returns to its vomit, so fools repeat their folly.

¹²Do you see a person wise in their own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for them.

¹³A sluggard says, “There’s a lion in the road, a fierce lion roaming the streets!”

¹⁴As a door turns on its hinges, so a sluggard turns on his bed.

¹⁵A sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth.

¹⁶A sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven people who answer discreetly.

¹⁷Like one who grabs a stray dog by the ears is someone who rushes into a quarrel not their own.

¹⁸Like a maniac shooting flaming arrows of death

¹⁹is one who deceives their neighbor and says, “I was only joking!”

²⁰Without wood a fire goes out; without a gossip a quarrel dies down.

²¹As charcoal to embers and as wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome person for kindling strife.

²²The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to the inmost parts.

²³Like a coating of silver dross on earthenware are fervent lips with an evil heart.

²⁴Enemies disguise themselves with their lips, but in their hearts they harbor deceit.

²⁵Though their speech is charming, do not believe them, for seven abominations fill their hearts.

²⁶Their malice may be concealed by deception, but their wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.

²⁷Whoever digs a pit will fall into it; if someone rolls a stone, it will roll back on them.

²⁸A lying tongue hates those it hurts, and a flattering mouth works ruin.