26 Like snow in summer and rain at harvest,^(A)
honor is inappropriate for a fool.^(B)

² Like a flitting sparrow or a fluttering swallow,^(C)
an undeserved curse goes nowhere.^(D)

³ A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey,^(E)
and a rod for the backs of fools.^(F)
4 Don’t answer a fool according to his foolishness^(G)
or you’ll be like him yourself.
⁵ Answer a fool according to his foolishness^(H)
or he’ll become wise in his own eyes.^(I)
6 The one who sends a message by a fool’s hand^(J)
cuts off his own feet and drinks violence.^(K)
7 A proverb in the mouth of a fool
is like lame legs that hang limp.
⁸ Giving honor to a fool
is like binding a stone in a sling.
⁹ A proverb in the mouth of a fool
is like a stick with thorns,
brandished by^[a] the hand of a drunkard.
¹⁰ The one who hires a fool or who hires those passing by
is like an archer who wounds everyone indiscriminately.
¹¹ As a dog returns to its vomit,
so also a fool repeats his foolishness.^(L)
12 Do you see a person who is wise in his own eyes?^(M)
There is more hope for a fool than for him.^(N)

¹³ The slacker says, “There’s a lion in the road—
a lion in the public square!” ^(O)
14 A door turns on its hinges,
and a slacker, on his bed.^(P)
15 The slacker buries his hand in the bowl;
he is too weary to bring it to his mouth!^(Q)
16 In his own eyes, a slacker is wiser^(R)
than seven who can answer sensibly.

¹⁷ A person who is passing by and meddles in a quarrel that’s not his
is like one who grabs a dog by the ears.
¹⁸ Like a madman who throws flaming darts and deadly arrows,^(S)
19 so is the person who deceives his neighbor
and says, “I was only joking!”

²⁰ Without wood, fire goes out;
without a gossip, conflict dies down.^(T)
21 As charcoal for embers and wood for fire,
so is a quarrelsome person for kindling strife.^(U)
22 A gossip’s words are like choice food
that goes down to one’s innermost being.^[b](V)

²³ Smooth^[c] lips with an evil heart
are like glaze on an earthen vessel.^(W)
24 A hateful person disguises himself with his speech
and harbors deceit within.
²⁵ When he speaks graciously, don’t believe him,
for there are seven detestable things in his heart.^(X)
26 Though his hatred is concealed by deception,
his evil will be revealed in the assembly.
²⁷ The one who digs a pit will fall into it,
and whoever rolls a stone—
it will come back on him.^(Y)
28 A lying tongue hates those it crushes,
and a flattering mouth causes ruin.