Proverbs 26

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

²Like a sparrow in its flitting , like a swallow in its flying , a curse that is causeless does not alight .

³A whip for the horse , a bridle for the donkey , and a rod for the back of fools .

⁴Answer not a fool according to his folly , lest you be like him yourself.

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

⁶Whoever sends a message by the hand of a fool cuts off his own feet and drinks violence .

⁷Like a lame man’s legs , which hang useless , is a proverb in the mouth of fools .

⁸Like one who binds the stone in the sling is one who gives honor to a fool .

⁹Like a thorn that goes up into the hand of a drunkard is a proverb in the mouth of fools .

¹⁰Like an archer who wounds everyone is one who hires a passing fool or drunkard .

¹¹Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly .

¹²Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes ? There is more hope for a fool than for him .

¹³The sluggard says , There is a lion in the road ! There is a lion in the streets !

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

¹⁵The sluggard buries his hand in the dish ; it wears him out to bring it back to his mouth .

¹⁶The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly .

¹⁷Whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own is like one who takes a passing dog by the ears .

¹⁸Like a madman who throws firebrands , arrows , and death

¹⁹is the man who deceives his neighbor and says , I am only joking !

²⁰For lack of wood the fire goes out , and where there is no whisperer , quarreling ceases .

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

²²The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels ; they go down into the inner parts of the body .

²³Like the glaze covering an earthen vessel are fervent lips with an evil heart .

²⁴Whoever hates disguises himself with his lips and harbors deceit in his heart ;

²⁵when he speaks graciously , believe him not , for there are seven abominations in his heart ;

²⁶though his hatred be covered with deception , his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly .

²⁷Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and a stone will come back on him who starts it rolling .

²⁸A lying tongue hates its victims , and a flattering mouth works ruin .