Proverbs 26:1-12

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

26 Like snow in summer or rain in harvest,
    so honor is not fitting for a fool.
² Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying,
    an undeserved curse goes nowhere.
³ A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey,
    and a rod for the back of fools.
⁴ Do not answer fools according to their folly,
    or you will be a fool yourself.
⁵ Answer fools according to their folly,
    or they will be wise in their own eyes.
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 disabled person hang limp;
    so does a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
⁸ It is like binding a stone in a sling
    to give honor to a fool.
⁹ Like a thornbush brandished by the hand of a drunkard
    is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
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.
¹² Do you see persons wise in their own eyes?
    There is more hope for fools than for them.