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.