Chapter 26

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

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

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

⁴Do not answer a fool according to their folly, or you yourself will be just like them.

⁵Answer a fool according to their folly, or they will be wise in their own eyes.

⁶Sending a message by the hand of a fool is like cutting off one’s feet or drinking violence.

⁷Like the useless legs of one who is lame is a proverb in the mouth of fools.

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

⁹Like a thornbush in a drunkard’s hand is a proverb in the mouth of fools.

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

¹¹As a dog returns to its vomit, so fools repeat their folly.

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

¹³A lazy person says, “There is a lion in the road, a fierce lion roaming the streets!”

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

¹⁵A lazy person buries their hand in the dish; they are too weary to bring it back to their mouth.

¹⁶A lazy person is wiser in their own eyes than seven people who answer with discretion.

¹⁷Like one who grabs a stray dog by the ears is someone who rushes into a quarrel not their own.

¹⁸Like a maniac who shoots flaming arrows of death

¹⁹is one who deceives their neighbor and says, “Was I not joking?”

²⁰Without wood a fire goes out; without a gossip a quarrel dies down.

²¹As charcoal to embers and as wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome person for kindling strife.

²²The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to the inmost parts.

²³Like a coating of silver dross on earthenware are fervent lips with an evil heart.

²⁴Enemies disguise themselves with their lips, but in their hearts they harbor deceit.

²⁵Though their speech is charming, do not believe them, for seven abominations fill their hearts.

²⁶Their hatred may be concealed by deception, but their wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.

²⁷Whoever digs a pit will fall into it; if someone rolls a stone, it will roll back on them.

²⁸A lying tongue hates those it hurts, and a flattering mouth works ruin. Proverbs 27 The Book of Proverbs, Chapter 27 – Veritable King James Version