NET Bible

Proverbs of Solomon Collected by Hezekiah

^26:1 Like snow in summer or rain in harvest, so honor is not fitting for a fool. ^26:2 Like a fluttering bird or like a flying swallow, so a curse without cause does not come to rest. ^26:3 A whip for the horse and a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the backs of fools! ^26:4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly, lest you yourself also be like him. ^26:5 Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own opinion. ^26:6 Like cutting off the feet or drinking violence, so is sending a message by the hand of a fool. ^26:7 Like legs dangle uselessly from the lame, so a proverb dangles in the mouth of fools. ^26:8 Like tying a stone in a sling, so is giving honor to a fool. ^26:9 Like a thorn has gone up into the hand of a drunkard, so a proverb has gone up into the mouth of a fool. ^26:10 Like an archer who wounds at random, so is the one who hires a fool or hires any passerby. ^26:11 Like a dog that returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly. ^26:12 You have seen a man wise in his own opinion — there is more hope for a fool than for him. ^26:13 The sluggard has said, “There is a lion in the road! A lion in the streets!” ^26:14 Like a door that turns on its hinges, so a sluggard turns on his bed. ^26:15 The sluggard has plunged his hand in the dish; he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth. ^26:16 The sluggard is wiser in his own opinion than seven people who respond with good sense. ^26:17 Like one who grabs a wild dog by the ears, so is the person passing by who becomes furious over a quarrel not his own. ^26:18 Like a madman who shoots firebrands and deadly arrows, ^26:19 so is a person who has deceived his neighbor, and said, “Was I not only joking?” ^26:20 Where there is no wood, a fire goes out, and where there is no gossip, contention ceases. ^26:21 Like charcoal is to burning coals, and wood to fire, so is a contentious person to kindle strife. ^26:22 The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; and they have gone down into a person’s innermost being. ^26:23 Like a coating of glaze over earthenware are fervent lips with an evil heart. ^26:24 The one who hates others disguises it with his lips, but he stores up deceit within him. ^26:25 When he speaks graciously, do not believe him, for there are seven abominations within him. ^26:26 Though his hatred may be concealed by deceit, his evil will be uncovered in the assembly. ^26:27 The one who digs a pit will fall into it; the one who rolls a stone—it will come back on him. ^26:28 A lying tongue hates those crushed by it, and a flattering mouth works ruin.