Proverbs 26:1
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
26 Like snow in summer or rain in harvest,
so honor is not fitting for a fool.(A)
Proverbs 26:1
New Living Translation
26 Honor is no more associated with fools
than snow with summer or rain with harvest.
Proverbs 26:3-12
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
3 A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey,
and a rod for the back of fools.(A)
4 Do not answer fools according to their folly,
lest you be a fool yourself.(B)
5 Answer fools according to their folly,
lest they be wise in their own eyes.(C)
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 lame person hang limp;
so does a proverb in the mouth of a fool.(D)
8 It is like binding a stone in a sling
to give honor to a fool.(E)
9 Like a thornbush brandished by the hand of a drunkard
is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.(F)
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.(G)
12 Do you see people wise in their own eyes?
There is more hope for fools than for them.(H)
Footnotes
- 26.10 Meaning of Heb uncertain
Proverbs 26:3-12
New Living Translation
3 Guide a horse with a whip, a donkey with a bridle,
and a fool with a rod to his back!
4 Don’t answer the foolish arguments of fools,
or you will become as foolish as they are.
5 Be sure to answer the foolish arguments of fools,
or they will become wise in their own estimation.
6 Trusting a fool to convey a message
is like cutting off one’s feet or drinking poison!
7 A proverb in the mouth of a fool
is as useless as a paralyzed leg.
8 Honoring a fool
is as foolish as tying a stone to a slingshot.
9 A proverb in the mouth of a fool
is like a thorny branch brandished by a drunk.
10 An employer who hires a fool or a bystander
is like an archer who shoots at random.
11 As a dog returns to its vomit,
so a fool repeats his foolishness.
12 There is more hope for fools
than for people who think they are wise.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
