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/Chapter 26

26 / 31

Proverbs

ESV

Chapter 26

¹Like snow in summer or rain in harvest, so honor is not fitting for a fool. ²Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying, a curse that is causeless does not alight. ³A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the back of fools. ⁴Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself. ⁵Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes. ⁶Whoever sends a message by the hand of a fool cuts off his own feet and drinks violence. ⁷The legs of a lame man hang useless; so is a proverb in the mouth of fools. ⁸Like one who binds a stone in a sling is he who gives honor to a fool. ⁹Like a thorn that goes up into the hand of a drunkard is a proverb in the mouth of fools. ¹⁰Like an archer who wounds everyone is he who hires a fool or hires passersby. ¹¹Like a dog that returns to its vomit is a fool who repeats his folly. ¹²Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him. ¹³The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road! There is a lion in the streets!” ¹⁴As a door turns on its hinges, so does a sluggard on his bed. ¹⁵The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; it wears him out to bring it back to his mouth. ¹⁶The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly. ¹⁷Whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own is like one who takes a passing dog by the ears. ¹⁸Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death, ¹⁹is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, “I was only joking!” ²⁰For lack of wood the fire goes out, and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases. ²¹As charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife. ²²The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body. ²³Fervent lips and a wicked heart are like an earthenware vessel overlaid with silver dross. ²⁴Whoever hates dissembles with his lips and harbors deceit within him; ²⁵when he speaks graciously, believe him not, for there are seven abominations in his heart; ²⁶though his hatred be covered with deception, his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly. ²⁷Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and a stone will come back on him who starts it rolling. ²⁸A lying tongue hates its victims, and a flattering mouth works ruin.