Proverbs 26

¹Like snow in summer, and as rain in harvest,

so honour is not fitting for a fool.

²Like a fluttering sparrow,

like a darting swallow,

so the undeserved curse doesn’t come to rest.

³A whip is for the horse,

a bridle for the donkey,

and a rod for the back of fools!

⁴Don’t answer a fool according to his folly,

lest you also be like him.

⁵Answer a fool according to his folly,

lest he be wise in his own eyes.

⁶One who sends a message by the hand of a fool

is cutting off feet and drinking violence.

⁷Like the legs of the lame that hang loose,

so is a parable in the mouth of fools.

⁸As one who binds a stone in a sling,

so is he who gives honour to a fool.

⁹Like a thorn bush that goes into the hand of a drunkard,

so is a parable in the mouth of fools.

¹⁰As an archer who wounds all,

so is he who hires a fool

or he who hires those who pass by.

¹¹As a dog that returns to his vomit,

so is a fool who repeats his folly.

¹²Do you see a man 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!

A fierce lion roams the streets!”

¹⁴As the door turns on its hinges,

so does the sluggard on his bed.

¹⁵The sluggard buries his hand in the dish.

He is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth.

¹⁶The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes

than seven men who answer with discretion.

¹⁷Like one who grabs a dog’s ears

is one who passes by and meddles in a quarrel not his own.

¹⁸Like a madman who shoots torches, arrows, and death,

¹⁹is the man who deceives his neighbour and says, “Am I not joking?”

²⁰For lack of wood a fire goes out.

Without gossip, a quarrel dies down.

²¹As coals are to hot embers,

and wood to fire,

so is a contentious man to kindling strife.

²²The words of a whisperer are as dainty morsels,

they go down into the innermost parts.

²³Like silver dross on an earthen vessel

are the lips of a fervent one with an evil heart.

²⁴A malicious man disguises himself with his lips,

but he harbours evil in his heart.

²⁵When his speech is charming, don’t believe him,

for there are seven abominations in his heart.

²⁶His malice may be concealed by deception,

but his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.

²⁷Whoever digs a pit shall fall into it.

Whoever rolls a stone, it will come back on him.

²⁸A lying tongue hates those it hurts;

and a flattering mouth works ruin.