Proverbs 26

¹Like snow in summer and rain at harvest, honor does not befit a fool.

²Like a fluttering sparrow or 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 like him.

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

⁶Like cutting off one’s own feet or drinking violence is the sending of a message by the hand of a fool.

⁷Like lame legs hanging limp is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.

⁸Like binding a stone into a sling is the giving of honor to a fool.

⁹[Like] a thorn [that] goes into the hand of a drunkard is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.

¹⁰Like an archer who wounds at random is he who hires a fool or passerby.

¹¹As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool 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 slacker says, “A lion [is] in the road! A fierce lion [roams] the public square!”

¹⁴[As] a door turns on its hinges, so the slacker [turns] on his bed.

¹⁵The slacker buries his hand in the dish; it wearies him to bring it back to his mouth.

¹⁶The slacker [is] wiser in his own eyes than seven men who answer discreetly.

¹⁷Like one who grabs a dog by the ears is a passerby who meddles in a quarrel not his own.

¹⁸Like a madman shooting firebrands and deadly arrows,

¹⁹so is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, “I was only joking!”

²⁰Without wood, a fire goes out; without gossip, a conflict ceases.

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

²²The words of a gossip are like choice morsels that go down into the inmost being.

²³Like glaze covering an earthen vessel are burning lips and a wicked heart.

²⁴A hateful man disguises himself with his speech, but he lays up deceit in his heart.

²⁵When he speaks graciously, do not believe him, for seven abominations [fill] his heart.

²⁶Though his hatred is concealed by deception, his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.

²⁷He who digs a pit will fall into it, and he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him.

²⁸A lying tongue hates those it crushes, and a flattering mouth causes ruin.