Similitudes, Instructions
1Like snow in summer and like rain in harvest,
So honor is not fitting for a fool.
2 Like a sparrow in its [a]flitting, like a swallow in its flying,
So a curse without cause does not [b]alight.
3 A whip is for the horse, a bridle for the donkey,
And a rod for the back of fools.
4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
Or you will also be like him.
5 Answer a fool as his folly deserves,
That he not be wise in his own eyes.
6 He cuts off his own feet and drinks violence
Who sends a message by the hand of a fool.
7 Like the legs which [c]are useless to the lame,
So is a proverb in the mouth of fools.
8 Like [d]one who binds a stone in a sling,
So is he who gives honor to a fool.
9 Like a thorn which [e]falls into the hand of a drunkard,
So is a proverb in the mouth of fools.
10 [f]Like an archer who wounds everyone,
So is he who hires a fool or who hires those who pass by.
11 Like a dog that returns to its vomit
Is a fool who repeats [g]his folly.
12 Do you see a man wise in his own eyes?
There is more hope for a fool than for him.
13 The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road!
A lion is [h]in the open square!”
14 As the door turns on its hinges,
So does the sluggard on his bed.
15 The sluggard buries his hand in the dish;
He is weary of bringing it to his mouth again.
16 The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes
Than seven men who can [i]give a discreet answer.
17 Like one who takes a dog by the ears
Is he who passes by and [j]meddles with strife not belonging to him.
18 Like a madman who throws
Firebrands, arrows and death,
19 So is the man who deceives his neighbor,
And says, “Was I not joking?”
20 For lack of wood the fire goes out,
And where there is no whisperer, contention quiets down.
21 Like charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire,
So is a contentious man to kindle strife.
22 The words of a whisperer are like dainty morsels,
And they go down into the [k]innermost parts of the body.
23 Like an earthen vessel overlaid with silver dross
Are burning lips and a wicked heart.
24 He who hates disguises it with his lips,
But he lays up deceit in his [l]heart.
25 When [m]he speaks graciously, do not believe him,
For there are seven abominations in his heart.
26 Though his hatred covers itself with guile,
His wickedness will be revealed before the assembly.
27 He who digs a pit will fall into it,
And he who rolls a stone, it will come back on him.
28 A lying tongue hates [n]those it crushes,
And a flattering mouth works ruin.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 26:2 Lit wandering
- Proverbs 26:2 Lit come
- Proverbs 26:7 Lit hang down from
- Proverbs 26:8 Lit the binding of
- Proverbs 26:9 Lit goes up
- Proverbs 26:10 Or A master workman produces all things, But he who hires a fool is like one who hires those who pass by
- Proverbs 26:11 Lit with his
- Proverbs 26:13 Lit within
- Proverbs 26:16 Lit return discreetly
- Proverbs 26:17 Lit infuriates himself
- Proverbs 26:22 Lit chambers of the belly
- Proverbs 26:24 Lit inward part
- Proverbs 26:25 Lit his voice is gracious
- Proverbs 26:28 Lit its crushed ones