Proverbs 26

1Like snow in summer or rain at harvest, honor does not fit a fool.

2Like a sparrow that flutters or a swallow that flies, an undeserved curse does not come to rest.

3A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the back of fools.

4Do not answer a fool according to that fool's foolishness, or you will become like the fool yourself.

5Answer a fool according to that fool's foolishness, or the fool will think that fool is wise.

6Sending a message by the hand of a fool is like cutting off your own feet or drinking poison.

7Like the legs of someone who cannot walk hanging useless is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.

8Giving honor to a fool is like tying a stone into a sling.

9Like a thorn stuck in a drunkard's hand is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.

10Like an archer who wounds everyone at random is whoever hires a fool or hires any passerby.

11Like a dog that returns to its vomit is a fool who repeats the same foolishness.

12Do you see someone who is wise in their own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for that person.

13A lazy person says: There is a lion in the road! A lion is loose in the streets!

14As a door turns on its hinges, so a lazy person turns over in bed.

15A lazy person buries a hand in the dish, and is too tired to bring it back to the mouth.

16A lazy person thinks that person is wiser than seven people who can answer with good sense.

17Whoever grabs a stray dog by the ears is like someone passing by who meddles in a quarrel that is not their own.

18Like a madman who shoots burning arrows that can kill,

19So is the person who tricks a neighbor and says: I was only joking!

20Without wood a fire goes out; without gossip an argument stops.

21As charcoal keeps embers glowing and wood feeds a fire, so a quarrelsome person keeps conflict going.

22The words of a gossip are like delicious food; they go down to the innermost parts of the body.

23Burning lips and a wicked heart are like a glaze covering a piece of cheap clay pottery.

24A hateful person disguises that person's feelings with lying lips, while storing up deceit within.

25When that hateful person speaks kindly, do not believe it, because there are seven detestable things in that person's heart.

26That hateful person's hatred may be concealed by deception, but that deceitful person's wickedness will be exposed in public.

27Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and whoever rolls a stone will have that stone roll back on them.

28A lying tongue hates the people it hurts, and a flattering mouth causes ruin.