Proverbs 26:1-19 ▼

1 Like snow in summer and rain at harvest, honor does not befit a fool.

2 Like a fluttering sparrow or darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest.

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

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

5 Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he become wise in his own eyes.

6 Like cutting off one’s own feet or drinking violence is the sending of a message by the hand of a fool.

7 Like lame legs hanging limp is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.

8 Like binding a stone into a sling is the giving of honor to a fool.

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

10 Like an archer who wounds at random is he who hires a fool or passerby.

11 As a dog returns to its vomit <2Pe 2:22>, so a fool repeats his folly.

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

13 The slacker says, “A lion is in the road! A fierce lion roams the public square!”

14 As a door turns on its hinges, so the slacker turns on his bed.

15 The slacker buries his hand in the dish; it wearies him to bring it back to his mouth.

16 The slacker is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who answer discreetly.

17 Like one who grabs a dog by the ears is a passerby who meddles in a quarrel not his own.

18 Like a madman shooting firebrands and deadly arrows,

19 so is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, “I was only joking!”