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.
Currently Selected:
Proverbs 26: MSG
Highlight
Share
Copy
![None](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimageproxy.youversionapi.com%2F58%2Fhttps%3A%2F%2Fweb-assets.youversion.com%2Fapp-icons%2Fen.png&w=128&q=75)
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
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.
Proverbs 26
26
Don't Be a Fool
1Expecting snow in summer
and rain in the dry season
makes more sense
than honoring a fool.
2A curse you don't deserve
will take wings and fly away
like a sparrow or a swallow.
3Horses and donkeys
must be beaten and bridled—
and so must fools.
4Don't make a fool of yourself
by answering a fool.
5But if you answer any fools,
show how foolish they are,
so they won't feel smart.
6Sending a message by a fool
is like chopping off your foot
just to spite yourself.
7A fool with words of wisdom
is like an athlete
with legs that can't move.#26.7 with … move: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
8Are you going to honor a fool?
Why not shoot a slingshot
with the rock tied tight?
9A thornbush waved around
in the hand of a drunkard
is no worse than a proverb
in the mouth of a fool.
10It's no smarter to shoot arrows
at every passerby
than it is to hire a bunch
of worthless nobodies.#26.10 nobodies: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 10.
11 #
2 P 2.22. Dogs return to eat their vomit,
just as fools repeat
their foolishness.
12There is more hope for a fool
than for someone who says,
“I'm really smart!”
13Don't be lazy and keep saying,
“There's a lion outside!”
14A door turns on its hinges,
but a lazy person
just turns over in bed.
15Some of us are so lazy
that we won't lift a hand
to feed ourselves.
16A lazy person says,
“I am smarter
than everyone else.”
17It's better to take hold
of a mad dog by the ears
than to take part
in someone else's argument.
18It's no crazier to shoot
sharp and flaming arrows
19than to cheat someone and say,
“I was only fooling!”
20Where there is no fuel
a fire goes out;
where there is no gossip
arguments come to an end.
21Troublemakers start trouble,
just as sparks and fuel
start a fire.
22There is nothing so delicious
as the taste of gossip!
It melts in your mouth.
23Hiding hateful thoughts
behind smooth#26.23 smooth: One ancient translation; Hebrew “hateful.” talk
is like coating a clay pot
with a cheap glaze.
24The pleasant talk
of an enemy
hides more evil plans
25than can be counted—
so don't believe a word!
26Everyone will see through
those evil plans.
27 #
Si 27.25-27. If you dig a pit,
you will fall in;
if you start a stone rolling,
it will roll back on you.
28Watch out for anyone
who tells lies and flatters—
they are out to get you.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
![None](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimageproxy.youversionapi.com%2F58%2Fhttps%3A%2F%2Fweb-assets.youversion.com%2Fapp-icons%2Fen.png&w=128&q=75)
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.