Proverbs 26

Fools Recycle Silliness

1 We no more give honors to fools than pray for snow in summer or rain during harvest.
2 You have as little to fear from an undeserved curse as from the dart of a wren or the swoop of a swallow.
3 A whip for the racehorse, a tiller for the sailboat— and a stick for the back of fools!
4 Don't respond to the stupidity of a fool; you'll only look foolish yourself.
5 Answer a fool in simple terms so he doesn't get a swelled head.
6 You're only asking for trouble when you send a message by a fool.
7 A proverb quoted by fools is limp as a wet noodle.
8 Putting a fool in a place of honor is like setting a mud brick on a marble column.
9 To ask a moron to quote a proverb is like putting a scalpel in the hands of a drunk.
10 Hire a fool or a drunk and you shoot yourself in the foot.
11 As a dog eats its own vomit, so fools recycle silliness.
12 See that man who thinks he's so smart? You can expect far more from a fool than from him.
13 Loafers say, "It's dangerous out there! Tigers are prowling the streets!" and then pull the covers back over their heads.
14 Just as a door turns on its hinges, so a lazybones turns back over in bed.
15 A shiftless sluggard puts his fork in the pie, but is too lazy to lift it to his mouth.

Like Glaze on Cracked Pottery

16 Dreamers fantasize their self-importance; they think they are smarter than a whole college faculty.
17 You grab a mad dog by the ears when you butt into a quarrel that's none of your business.
18-19 People who shrug off deliberate deceptions, saying, "I didn't mean it, I was only joking," Are worse than careless campers who walk away from smoldering campfires.
20 When you run out of wood, the fire goes out; when the gossip ends, the quarrel dies down.
21 A quarrelsome person in a dispute is like kerosene thrown on a fire.
22 Listening to gossip is like eating cheap candy; do you want junk like that in your belly?
23 Smooth talk from an evil heart is like glaze on cracked pottery.
24-26 Your enemy shakes hands and greets you like an old friend, all the while conniving against you. When he speaks warmly to you, don't believe him for a minute; he's just waiting for the chance to rip you off. No matter how cunningly he conceals his malice, eventually his evil will be exposed in public.
27 Malice backfires; spite boomerangs.
28 Liars hate their victims; flatterers sabotage trust.

Proverbs 26

1 As snow in summer, and as rain in harvest, So honor is not seemly for a fool.

2 As the sparrow in her wandering, as the swallow in her flying, So the curse that is causeless alighteth not.

3 A whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass, And a rod for the back of fools.

4 Answer not a fool according to his folly, Lest thou also be like unto him.

5 Answer a fool according to his folly, Lest he be wise in his own conceit.

6 He that sendeth a message by the hand of a fool Cutteth off his own feet, and drinketh in damage.

7 The legs of the lame hang loose: So is a parable in the mouth of fools.

8 As one that bindeth a stone in a sling, So is he that giveth honor to a fool.

9  As a thorn that goeth up into the hand of a drunkard, So is a parable in the mouth of fools.

10  As an archer that woundeth all, So is he that hireth a fool and he that hireth them that pass by.

11 As a dog that returneth to his vomit, So is a fool that repeateth his folly.

12 Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? There is more hope of a fool than of him.

13 The sluggard saith, There is a lion in the way; A lion is in the streets.

14  As the door turneth upon its hinges, So doth the sluggard upon his bed.

15 The sluggard burieth his hand in the dish; It wearieth him to bring it again to his mouth.

16 The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit Than seven men that can render a reason.

17 He that passeth by, and vexeth himself with strife belonging not to him, Is like one that taketh a dog by the ears.

18 As a madman who casteth firebrands, Arrows, and death,

19 So is the man that deceiveth his neighbor, And saith, Am not I in sport?

20 For lack of wood the fire goeth out; And where there is no whisperer, contention ceaseth.

21  As coals are to hot embers, and wood to fire, So is a contentious man to inflame strife.

22 The words of a whisperer are as dainty morsels, And they go down into the innermost parts.

23 Fervent lips and a wicked heart Are like an earthen vessel overlaid with silver dross.

24 He that hateth dissembleth with his lips; But he layeth up deceit within him:

25 When he speaketh fair, believe him not; For there are seven abominations in his heart:

26 Though his hatred cover itself with guile, His wickedness shall be openly showed before the assembly.

27 Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein; And he that rolleth a stone, it shall return upon him.

28 A lying tongue hateth those whom it hath wounded; And a flattering mouth worketh ruin.