Proverbs 26:1-16 ▼

1 Like snow in summer or rain in harvest, so honor is not fitting for a fool.

2 Like a fluttering bird or like a flying swallow, so a curse without cause does not come to rest.

3 A whip for the horse and a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the backs of fools!

4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly, lest you yourself also be like him.

5 Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own estimation.

6 Like cutting off the feet or drinking violence, so is sending a message by the hand of a fool.

7 Like legs that hang limp from the lame, so is a proverb in the mouth of fools.

8 Like tying a stone in a sling, so is giving honor to a fool.

9 Like a thorn that goes into the hand of a drunkard, so is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.

10 Like an archer who wounds at random, so is the one who hires a fool or hires any passer-by.

11 Like a dog that returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.

12 Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

13 The sluggard says, |There is a lion in the road! A lion in the streets!|

14 Like a door that turns on its hinges, so a sluggard turns on his bed.

15 The sluggard plunges his hand in the dish; he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth.

16 The sluggard is wiser in his own estimation than seven people who respond with good sense.