Fools and Sluggards
1Like snow in summer and rain at harvest, honor does not suit a fool. 2Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying, so a curse without cause comes to rest on him.* 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 his folly, or you will be just like him yourself. 5Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes. 6Whoever sends word by the hand of a fool cuts off his own feet and drinks down violence. 7The legs of a lame man hang useless, and so does a proverb in the mouth of fools. 8Like binding a stone into a sling is giving honor to a fool. 9Like a thornbush that comes up in a drunkard’s hand is a proverb in the mouth of fools. 10Like an archer who wounds everyone is one who hires a fool, or hires whoever passes by. 11As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly. 12Have you seen a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him. 13The sluggard says, “There is a lion on the road! A lion in the squares!” 14A door turns on its hinge, and the sluggard on his bed. 15The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; bringing it back to his mouth wears him out. 16The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who answer with good sense.
Quarrels, Whispers and Smooth Words
17Like grabbing a passing dog by the ears is a man who flares up over a quarrel that is not his. 18Like a madman shooting firebrands, arrows and death, 19so is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, “I was only joking.” 20Without wood a fire goes out, and where there is no whisperer, strife dies down. 21Charcoal for embers and wood for fire, and a quarrelsome man to kindle a quarrel. 22The words of a whisperer are like choice morsels; they go down to the inner chambers of the belly. 23Like a glaze of silver dross spread over a potsherd are burning lips and an evil heart. 24With his lips a man who hates you disguises himself, but inside he stores up deceit. 25When his voice turns gracious, do not trust him, for seven abominations are in his heart. 26Hatred may be covered by deception, but his evil will be uncovered before the assembly. 27Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and the stone comes back on the one who rolls it. 28A lying tongue hates those it crushes, and a smooth mouth works ruin.
Notes
- 26:2 — The Hebrew text is written “not” (lo’); the Masoretic tradition directs that it be read “to him” (lo). With what is written, the line would say “so a curse without cause does not alight,” and so read the Septuagint and many versions. This translation follows what is read.
