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 ass,

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.

⁶He who 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 he 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 everybody

is he who hires a passing fool or drunkard.

¹¹Like a dog that returns to his vomit

is a fool that 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 discreetly.

¹⁷He who 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 smooth lips with an evil heart.

²⁴He who hates, dissembles 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 guile,

his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.

²⁷He who digs a pit will fall into it,

and a stone will come back upon him who starts it rolling.

²⁸A lying tongue hates its victims,

and a flattering mouth works ruin.