Proverbs 26

The Voice

26 Like snow in the summer and rain in the time of harvest,
    so honor is never fitting for a fool.
² Like a bird that flits and flutters or a swallow in mid-flight,
    so a curse that lacks cause will never come to light.
³ A whip is for the horse, a bridle is for the donkey,
    and a rod is for the fool’s back.

⁴ Never answer a fool on his own foolish terms,
    or you will become like him;
⁵ Rather, answer a fool on his own foolish terms,
    or he will become wise in his own eyes.

⁶ Like someone who cuts off his feet or drinks to his ruin,
    so is the one who uses a fool to pass on his message.
⁷ As lame legs are useless, dangling on the crippled,
    so is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
⁸ Like one who ties a stone in his slingshot,
    so is one who honors a fool.
⁹ Like a thorn in the hand of a drunkard,
    so is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
¹⁰ Like an archer who shoots at random and injures everyone,
    so is a person who hires a fool or someone off the street.^[a]
11 Like a dog who goes back to his own vomit,^[b]
    so is a fool who always returns to his foolishness.

¹² Have you seen a person who is wise in his own sight?
    Know that there is more hope for a fool than for him.

¹³ A lazy person says, “There’s a lion in the road!
    A lion in the streets!
    Another good reason to stay in today.”
¹⁴ As a door swings on its hinges and goes nowhere,
    so a slacker turns over in his bed.
¹⁵ Some people are so lazy that they reach for food on the plate
    but lack the will to bring it up to their mouths.
¹⁶ The slacker sees himself as wiser by far
    than seven men who can converse intelligently.

¹⁷ Like a man who seizes a wild dog by the ears,
    so is anyone who walks by and meddles in someone else’s argument.
¹⁸ Like a madman who hurls flaming spears and shoots deadly arrows,
¹⁹ So is anyone who deceives a neighbor
    and then says, “But I was only joking with you.”

²⁰ When there is no wood, the fire goes out;
    when there is no one to spread gossip, arguing stops.
²¹ Like charcoal to smoldering embers and dry wood to a fire,
    so a hot-tempered man kindles strife.
²² Whispered gossip is like a delicious first course:
    it is devoured with pleasure and then penetrates deep within you.

²³ Like a shiny glaze^[c] coating a rough clay pot,
    so are burning lips that conceal an evil heart.
²⁴ One who hates may camouflage it beneath pleasant words,
    but deep inside him, treachery still rages;
²⁵ Don’t believe him when he speaks kindly
    because his heart is completely ruled by evil.^[d]

²⁶ And though he covers his hatred with cleverness,
    his wicked ways will be publicly exposed.
²⁷ The one who digs a trap for another will fall into it,
    and the one who starts rolling a stone will have it roll back over him.
²⁸ Liars take no pity on those they crush with their lies,
    and flattery spoils everyone it touches.