Proverbs 26

Tree of Life Version

26 Like snow in summer or rain at harvest,
so honor is not fitting for a fool.
² Like a fluttering sparrow or a flying swallow,
so an undeserved curse does not land.
³ A whip for a horse, a bridle for a donkey,
and a rod for the back of fools.
⁴ Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
else you also will be like him.
⁵ Answer a fool according to his folly,
else he will be wise in his own eyes.
⁶ Like cutting off one’s feet or drinking violence
is sending a message by a fool’s hand.
⁷ Like a lame man’s legs that hang limp,
so is a proverb in a fool’s mouth.
⁸ Like tying a stone into a sling,
so is giving honor to a fool.
⁹ Like a thorn bush in a drunkard’s hand
is a proverb in a fool’s mouth.
¹⁰ Like an archer who wounds at random
is one who hires a fool or any passer-by.
¹¹ Like a dog that returns to its vomit,
so a fool repeats his folly.^[a]
12 Do you see one wise in his own eyes?
There is more hope for a fool than him.

¹³ A slacker says,
“There’s a lion on the road!
A lion is in the streets!”
¹⁴ As a door turns on its hinges
so a slacker turns on his bed.
¹⁵ The slacker plunges his hand in the dish—
he is too tired to bring it back to his mouth.
¹⁶ A slacker is wiser in his own eyes
than seven people who answer sensibly.

¹⁷ Like one who takes a dog by the ears
is a passer-by who meddles in a quarrel not his own.
¹⁸ Like a madman shooting firebrands and deadly arrows
¹⁹ so is one who deceives his friend, and says, “I was only joking.”
²⁰ Without wood a fire goes out;
without gossip quarrels cease.
²¹ As coals are to embers and wood to fire,
so is a contentious person to kindling strife.
²² A gossip’s words are like tasty morsels—
they slide down into the innermost parts of the body.
²³ Like silver glaze overlaying earthenware
are fervent^[b] lips with an evil heart.
²⁴ One who hates, disguises it with his lips,
but he stores up deceit within him.
²⁵ When he speaks favorably, do not believe him,
for there are seven abominations in his heart.
²⁶ Though his hatred may be concealed
by deceit, his evil will be exposed before the assembly.