26 Like snow in summer or rain in harvest,
    so honor is not fitting for a fool.^(A)
2 Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying,
    an undeserved curse goes nowhere.^(B)
3 A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey,
    and a rod for the back of fools.^(C)
4 Do not answer fools according to their folly,
    lest you be a fool yourself.^(D)
5 Answer fools according to their folly,
    lest they be wise in their own eyes.^(E)
6 It is like cutting off one’s foot and drinking down violence,
    to send a message by a fool.
⁷ The legs of a lame person hang limp;
    so does a proverb in the mouth of a fool.^(F)
8 It is like binding a stone in a sling
    to give honor to a fool.^(G)
9 Like a thornbush brandished by the hand of a drunkard
    is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.^(H)
10 Like an archer who wounds everybody
    is one who hires a passing fool or drunkard.^[a]
11 Like a dog that returns to its vomit
    is a fool who reverts to his folly.^(I)
12 Do you see people wise in their own eyes?
    There is more hope for fools than for them.^(J)
13 The lazy person says, “There is a lion in the road!
    There is a lion in the streets!”^(K)
14 As a door turns on its hinges,
    so does a lazy person in bed.
¹⁵ The lazy person buries a hand in the dish
    and is too tired to bring it back to the mouth.^(L)
16 The lazy person is wiser in self-esteem
    than seven who can answer discreetly.
¹⁷ Like someone who takes a passing dog by the ears
    is one who meddles in the quarrel of another.^(M)
18 Like a maniac who shoots deadly firebrands and arrows,^(N)
19 so is one who deceives a neighbor
    and says, “I am only joking!”^(O)
20 For lack of wood the fire goes out,
    and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases.^(P)
21 As charcoal is to hot embers and wood to fire,
    so is a quarrelsome person for kindling strife.^(Q)
22 The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels;
    they go down into the inner parts of the body.^(R)
23 Like the glaze^[b] covering an earthen vessel
    are smooth^[c] lips with an evil heart.
²⁴ An enemy dissembles in speaking
    while harboring deceit within;^(S)
25 when an enemy speaks graciously, do not believe it,
    for there are seven abominations concealed within;^(T)
26 though hatred is covered with guile,
    the enemy’s wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.^(U)
27 Whoever digs a pit will fall into it,
    and a stone will come back on the one who starts it rolling.^(V)
28 A lying tongue hates its victims,
    and a flattering mouth works ruin.^(W)