Honor Is Not Fitting for a Fool

26 As snow in summer (A)and rain in harvest,
So honor is not fitting for a fool.

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26 As snow in summer, and as rain in harvest,
So honor is not seemly for a fool.

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(A)A whip for the horse,
A bridle for the donkey,
And a rod for the fool’s back.
Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
Lest you also be like him.
(B)Answer a fool according to his folly,
Lest he be wise in his own eyes.
He who sends a message by the hand of a fool
Cuts off his own feet and drinks violence.
Like the legs of the lame that hang limp
Is a proverb in the mouth of fools.
Like one who binds a stone in a sling
Is he who gives honor to a fool.
Like a thorn that goes into the hand of a drunkard
Is a proverb in the mouth of fools.
10 [a]The great God who formed everything
Gives the fool his hire and the transgressor his wages.
11 (C)As a dog returns to his own vomit,
(D)So a fool repeats his folly.
12 (E)Do you see a man wise in his own eyes?
There is more hope for a fool than for him.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 26:10 Heb. difficult in v. 10; ancient and modern translators differ greatly

A whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass,
And a rod for the back of fools.
Answer not a fool according to his folly,
Lest thou also be like unto him.
Answer a fool according to his folly,
Lest he be wise in [a]his own conceit.
He that sendeth a message by the hand of a fool
Cutteth off his own feet, and drinketh in damage.
The legs of the lame hang loose;
So is a parable in the mouth of fools.
As one that bindeth a stone in a sling,
So is he that giveth honor to a fool.
As a thorn that goeth up into the hand of a drunkard,
So is a parable in the mouth of fools.
10 [b]As an archer that woundeth all,
So is he that hireth a fool and he that hireth them that pass by.
11 As a dog that returneth to his vomit,
So is a fool that repeateth his folly.
12 Seest thou a man wise in [c]his own conceit?
There is more hope of a fool than of him.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 26:5 Hebrew his own eyes.
  2. Proverbs 26:10 Or, A master worker formeth all things; But he that hireth the fool is as one that hireth them that pass by. The Hebrew is obscure.
  3. Proverbs 26:12 Hebrew his own eyes.