Proverbs 26
26
1 In the manner of snow in the summer, and rain at the harvest, so also is glory unfit for the foolish.
2 Like a bird flying away to another place, and like a sparrow that hurries away freely, so also a curse uttered against someone without cause will pass away.
3 A whip is for a horse, and a muzzle is for donkey, and a rod is for the back of the imprudent.
4 Do not respond to the foolish according to his folly, lest you become like him.
5 Respond to the foolish according to his folly, lest he imagine himself to be wise.
6 Whoever sends words by a foolish messenger has lame feet and drinks iniquity.
7 In the manner of a lame man who has beautiful legs to no purpose, so also is a parable unfit for the mouth of the foolish.
8 Just like one who casts a stone into the pile of Mercury, so also is he who gives honor to the foolish.
9 In the manner of a thorn, if it were to spring up from the hand of a drunkard, so also is a parable in the mouth of the foolish.
10 Judgment determines cases. And whoever imposes silence on the foolish mitigates anger.
11 Like a dog that returns to his vomit, so also is the imprudent who repeats his foolishness.
12 Have you seen a man who seems wise to himself? There will be greater hope held for the unwise than for him.
13 The lazy one says, "There is a lion along the way, and a lioness in the roads."
14 Just as a door turns upon its hinges, so also does the lazy one turn upon his bed.
15 The lazy one conceals his hand under his arms, and it is a labor for him to move it to his mouth.
16 The lazy one seems wiser to himself than seven men speaking judgments.
17 Just like one who takes hold of a dog by the ears, so also is he who crosses impatiently and meddles in the quarrels of another.
18 Just as he is guilty who let loose the arrows and the lances unto death,
19 so also is the man who harms his friend by deceitfulness. And when he has been apprehended, he says, "I did it jokingly."
20 When the wood fails, the fire will be extinguished. And when the gossiper is taken away, conflicts will be quelled.
21 Just as charcoals are to burning coals, and wood is to fire, so also is an angry man who stirs up quarrels.
22 The words of a whisperer seem simple, but they penetrate to the innermost parts of the self.
23 In the same manner as an earthen vessel, if it were adorned with impure silver, conceited lips are allied with a wicked heart.
24 An enemy is known by his lips, though it is from his heart that he draws out deceit.
25 When he will have lowered his voice, do not believe him, for there are seven vices in his heart.
26 Whoever covers hatred with deceit, his malice shall be revealed in the assembly.
27 Whoever digs a pit will fall into it. And whoever rolls a stone, it will roll back to him.
28 A false tongue does not love truth. And a slippery mouth works ruin.
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Proverbs 26
26
Fools Recycle Silliness
1We no more give honors to fools
than pray for snow in summer or rain during harvest.
2You have as little to fear from an undeserved curse
as from the dart of a wren or the swoop of a swallow.
3A whip for the racehorse, a tiller for the sailboat—
and a stick for the back of fools!
4Don’t respond to the stupidity of a fool;
you’ll only look foolish yourself.
5Answer a fool in simple terms
so he doesn’t get a swelled head.
6You’re only asking for trouble
when you send a message by a fool.
7A proverb quoted by fools
is limp as a wet noodle.
8Putting a fool in a place of honor
is like setting a mud brick on a marble column.
9To ask a moron to quote a proverb
is like putting a scalpel in the hands of a drunk.
10Hire a fool or a drunk
and you shoot yourself in the foot.
11As a dog eats its own vomit,
so fools recycle silliness.
12See that man who thinks he’s so smart?
You can expect far more from a fool than from him.
13Loafers say, “It’s dangerous out there!
Tigers are prowling the streets!”
and then pull the covers back over their heads.
14Just as a door turns on its hinges,
so a lazybones turns back over in bed.
15A shiftless sluggard puts his fork in the pie,
but is too lazy to lift it to his mouth.
Like Glaze on Cracked Pottery
16Dreamers fantasize their self-importance;
they think they are smarter
than a whole college faculty.
17You grab a mad dog by the ears
when you butt into a quarrel that’s none of your business.
18-19People 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.
20When you run out of wood, the fire goes out;
when the gossip ends, the quarrel dies down.
21A quarrelsome person in a dispute
is like kerosene thrown on a fire.
22Listening to gossip is like eating cheap candy;
do you want junk like that in your belly?
23Smooth talk from an evil heart
is like glaze on cracked pottery.
24-26Your enemy shakes hands and greets you like an old friend,
all the while plotting 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 shrewdly he conceals his malice,
eventually his evil will be exposed in public.
27Malice backfires;
spite boomerangs.
28Liars hate their victims;
flatterers sabotage trust.
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.