Proverbs 26:1-16 ▼

1 In the manner of snow in the summer, and rain at the harvest, so also is glory unfit for the foolish.

2 Like a bird flying away to another place, and like a sparrow that hurries away freely, so also a curse uttered against someone without cause will pass away.

3 A whip is for a horse, and a muzzle is for donkey, and a rod is for the back of the imprudent.

4 Do not respond to the foolish according to his folly, lest you become like him.

5 Respond to the foolish according to his folly, lest he imagine himself to be wise.

6 Whoever sends words by a foolish messenger has lame feet and drinks iniquity.

7 In the manner of a lame man who has beautiful legs to no purpose, so also is a parable unfit for the mouth of the foolish.

8 Just like one who casts a stone into the pile of Mercury, so also is he who gives honor to the foolish.

9 In the manner of a thorn, if it were to spring up from the hand of a drunkard, so also is a parable in the mouth of the foolish.

10 Judgment determines cases. And whoever imposes silence on the foolish mitigates anger.

11 Like a dog that returns to his vomit, so also is the imprudent who repeats his foolishness.

12 Have you seen a man who seems wise to himself? There will be greater hope held for the unwise than for him.

13 The lazy one says, “There is a lion along the way, and a lioness in the roads.”

14 Just as a door turns upon its hinges, so also does the lazy one turn upon his bed.

15 The lazy one conceals his hand under his arms, and it is a labor for him to move it to his mouth.

16 The lazy one seems wiser to himself than seven men speaking judgments.