Proverbs 26:13-26

English Standard Version

^13 (A)The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road!
    There is a lion in the streets!”
¹⁴ As a door turns on its hinges,
    so does a sluggard on his bed.
^15 (B)The sluggard buries his hand in the dish;
    it wears him out to bring it back to his mouth.
¹⁶ The sluggard is ^(C)wiser in his own eyes
    ^(D)than seven men who can answer sensibly.
¹⁷ Whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own
    is like one who takes a passing dog by the ears.
¹⁸ Like a madman who throws ^(E)firebrands, arrows, and death
¹⁹ is the man who deceives his neighbor
    and says, “I am only joking!”
²⁰ For lack of wood the fire goes out,
    and where there is no ^(F)whisperer, ^(G)quarreling ceases.
²¹ As charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire,
    so is ^(H)a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.
^22 (I)The words of ^(J)a whisperer are like delicious morsels;
    they go down into the inner parts of the body.
^23 (K)Like the ^(L)glaze^[a] covering an earthen vessel
    are fervent lips with an evil heart.
²⁴ Whoever hates disguises himself with his lips
    and harbors deceit in his heart;
^25 (M)when he speaks graciously, believe him not,
    for there are ^(N)seven abominations in his heart;
²⁶ though his hatred be covered with deception,
    his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.