Proverbs 26

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

2Like a sparrow flitting about, like a swallow in flight, so a curse without cause—it comes to him.

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 will become like him yourself.

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

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

7Like the legs of the lame that hang limp is a proverb in the mouth of fools.

8Like tying a stone into a sling is giving honor to a fool.

9Like a thornbush in the hand of a drunkard is a proverb in the mouth of fools.

10Like an archer who wounds everyone is one who hires a fool or hires whoever passes by.

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

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

13The lazy person says, “There is a lion in the road, a lion in the streets!”

14As a door turns on its hinge, so does a lazy person on his bed.

15The lazy person buries his hand in the dish; he is too tired to bring it back to his mouth.

16The lazy person is wiser in his own eyes than seven people who answer sensibly.

17Like someone who grabs a dog by the ears is a passerby who gets worked up over a quarrel that is not his own.

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

19is the person who deceives his neighbor and says, “I was only joking, was I not?”

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

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

22The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down into the inner depths of the body.

23Like silver dross coating a clay pot are fervent lips with an evil heart.

24Whoever hates disguises himself with his lips, but inside he stores up deceit.

25When he speaks graciously, do not believe him, for seven detestable things are in his heart.

26His hatred may be covered by deception, but his evil will be exposed in the assembly.

27Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and a stone will roll back on the one who rolls it.

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