Proverbs Chapter 26 — On Fools, Sluggards, and Gossip

¹Like snow in summer, and as rain in harvest,

²Like a fluttering sparrow,

³A whip is for the horse,

⁴Don’t answer a fool according to his folly,

⁵Answer a fool according to his folly,

⁶One who sends a message by the hand of a fool

⁷Like the legs of the lame that hang loose,

⁸As one who binds a stone in a sling,

⁹Like a thorn bush that goes into the hand of a drunkard,

¹⁰As an archer who wounds all,

¹¹As a dog that returns to his vomit,

¹²Do you see a man wise in his own eyes?

¹³The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road!

¹⁴As the door turns on its hinges,

¹⁵The sluggard buries his hand in the dish.

¹⁶The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes

¹⁷Like one who grabs a dog’s ears

¹⁸Like a madman who shoots torches, arrows, and death,

¹⁹is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, “Am I not joking?”

²⁰For lack of wood a fire goes out.

²¹As coals are to hot embers,

²²The words of a whisperer are as dainty morsels,

²³Like silver dross on an earthen vessel

²⁴A malicious man disguises himself with his lips,

²⁵When his speech is charming, don’t believe him,

²⁶His malice may be concealed by deception,

²⁷Whoever digs a pit shall fall into it.

²⁸A lying tongue hates those it hurts;