Proverbs 26

1Like snow in summer and rain in harvest, so honor does not suit a fool.

2Like a flitting sparrow, like a swallow flying away, so a curse without cause does not come upon him.

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

4Do not answer a fool in keeping with his folly, lest you be like him too.

5Answer a fool in keeping with his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.

6He who sends a message by the hand of a fool cuts off feet and drinks violence.

7Like the slack legs of the lame, so is a proverb in the mouth of fools.

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

9Like a thorn rising into a drunkard's hand, so is a proverb in the mouth of fools.

10Like the great wounder of all is one who hires a fool or one who hires passersby.

11Like a dog returning to its vomit, so is a fool repeating his folly.

12Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? A fool has more hope than he.

13The sluggard says, “A lion is in the road—a lion among the streets.”

14The door turns on its hinge, as does the sluggard on his bed.

15The sluggard hides his hand in the dish; he loathes to bring it back to his mouth.

16The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven who answer with reason.

17One who grasps a dog's ears is like one passing by who involves himself in a quarrel not his own.

18Like a madman hurling firebrands, arrows, and death,

19So is the man who beguiles his companion and says, "Am I not jesting?"

20Fire is extinguished without wood; contention is stilled without a whisperer.

21As coals are to embers and wood to fire, so is a brawling, contentious man to igniting strife.

22The words of a whisperer are like wounds, and they go down into the innermost chambers of the belly.

23Burning lips and an evil heart are like silver dross covering an earthen vessel.

24A foe disguises himself with his lips, but stores up deceit within him.

25When he speaks graciously, do not believe him, for seven abominations fill his heart.

26Hatred is cloaked in deceit, but his evil is exposed in the assembly.

27Whoever digs a pit falls into it; whoever rolls a stone, it returns to him.

28A lying tongue hates those it crushes; a flattering mouth works ruin.