Proverbs 26

Lexham English Bible

26 Like snow in the summer and like rain at the harvest,
    so honor is not fitting for a fool.
² Like the sparrow is to fluttering and like the swallow is to flying,
    so an undeserved curse does not go forth.
³ A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey,
    and a rod for the back of fools.
⁴ Do not answer a fool according to his folly
    lest you become like him—even you.
⁵ Answer a fool according to his folly,
    or else he will be wise in his own eyes.
⁶ Like cutting off feet or drinking violence,
    so is he who sends messages in the hand of a fool.
⁷ Like legs that hang limp from a lame person,
    so is a proverb in the mouth of fools.
⁸ Like binding a stone in a sling,
    so is giving honor to a fool.
⁹ Like a thorn that goes up in the hand of a drunkard,
    so is a proverb in the mouth of fools.
¹⁰ Like an archer who wounds everyone,
    so is he who hires a fool or he who hires passersby.
¹¹ Like a dog returning to his vomit
    is a fool reverting to his folly.
¹² Do you see a man wise in his own eyes?
    There is more hope for a fool than for him.
¹³ A lazy person says “A lion is in the road!
    A lion among the streets!”
¹⁴ The door turns on its hinge,
    and a lazy person on his bed.
¹⁵ A lazy person buries his hands in the dish;
    he is too tired to return it to his mouth.
¹⁶ A lazy person is wiser in his eyes
    than seven who answer discreetly.
¹⁷ Grabbing onto the ears of a dog
    passing by is one who meddles in a quarrel that is not his own.
¹⁸ Like a maniac who shoots
    firebrands, arrows, and death,
¹⁹ so is a man who deceives his neighbor,
    but says “Am I not joking?”
²⁰ For lack of wood, a fire goes out,
    and where there is no whisperer, quarreling will cease.
²¹ As charcoal is to hot embers and wood is to fire,
    so a man of quarrels is to kindling strife.
²² The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels,
    and they go down to the inner parts of the body.
²³ Like impure silver^[a] which overlays an earthen vessel,
    so are smooth lips and an evil heart^[b].
²⁴ On his lips, an enemy will pretend,
    but inside^[c] he will harbor deceit.
²⁵ When he makes his voice gracious, do not believe him,
    for seven abominations are in his heart.
²⁶ Though hatred is covered with guile,
    its evil will be exposed in the assembly.
²⁷ He who digs a pit, in it he will fall,
    and he who rolls a stone, on him it will come back.
²⁸ A tongue of deceit hates its victim,
    and a flattering mouth makes ruin.