Proverbs 26:1
New American Standard Bible
Similitudes and Instructions
Read full chapter
Proverbs 26:1
New Living Translation
26 Honor is no more associated with fools
than snow with summer or rain with harvest.
Proverbs 26:3-12
New American Standard Bible
3 A (A)whip is for the horse, a bridle for the donkey,
And a (B)rod for the back of fools.
4 (C)Do not answer a fool [a]according to his foolishness,
Or you will also be like him.
5 (D)Answer a fool as his foolishness deserves,
So that he will not be (E)wise in his own eyes.
6 One who sends a message by the hand of a fool
Chops off his own feet and drinks violence.
7 Like [b]useless legs to one who cannot walk,
So is a proverb in the mouths of fools.
8 Like [c]one who binds a stone in a sling,
So is one who gives honor to a fool.
9 Like a thorn that [d]sticks in the hand of a heavy drinker,
So is a proverb in the mouths of fools.
10 [e]Like an archer who wounds everyone,
So is one who hires a fool or hires those who pass by.
11 Like (F)a dog that returns to its vomit,
So is a fool who (G)repeats [f]his foolishness.
12 Do you see a person (H)wise in his own eyes?
(I)There is more hope for a fool than for him.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 26:4 I.e., taking his question or argument seriously
- Proverbs 26:7 Lit legs that dangle from one paralyzed
- Proverbs 26:8 Lit the binding of
- Proverbs 26:9 Lit goes up
- Proverbs 26:10 Or A master workman produces all things, But one who hires a fool is like one who hires those who pass by
- Proverbs 26:11 Lit with his
Proverbs 26:3-12
New Living Translation
3 Guide a horse with a whip, a donkey with a bridle,
and a fool with a rod to his back!
4 Don’t answer the foolish arguments of fools,
or you will become as foolish as they are.
5 Be sure to answer the foolish arguments of fools,
or they will become wise in their own estimation.
6 Trusting a fool to convey a message
is like cutting off one’s feet or drinking poison!
7 A proverb in the mouth of a fool
is as useless as a paralyzed leg.
8 Honoring a fool
is as foolish as tying a stone to a slingshot.
9 A proverb in the mouth of a fool
is like a thorny branch brandished by a drunk.
10 An employer who hires a fool or a bystander
is like an archer who shoots at random.
11 As a dog returns to its vomit,
so a fool repeats his foolishness.
12 There is more hope for fools
than for people who think they are wise.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.