Verse 1
Like snow in summer or rain in harvest, so honor is not fitting for a fool.
Verse 2
Like a fluttering bird or like a flying swallow, so a curse without cause does not come to rest.
Verse 3
A whip for the horse and a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the backs of fools!
Verse 4
Do not answer a fool according to his folly, lest you yourself also be like him.
Verse 5
Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own opinion.
Verse 6
Like cutting off the feet or drinking violence, so is sending a message by the hand of a fool.
Verse 7
Like legs dangle uselessly from the lame, so a proverb dangles in the mouth of fools.
Verse 8
Like tying a stone in a sling, so is giving honor to a fool.
Verse 9
Like a thorn has gone up into the hand of a drunkard, so a proverb has gone up into the mouth of a fool.
Verse 10
Like an archer who wounds at random, so is the one who hires a fool or hires any passerby.
Verse 11
Like a dog that returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.
Verse 12
You have seen a man wise in his own opinion– there is more hope for a fool than for him.
Verse 13
The sluggard has said,“There is a lion in the road! A lion in the streets!”
Verse 14
Like a door that turns on its hinges, so a sluggard turns on his bed.
Verse 15
The sluggard has plunged his hand in the dish; he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth.
Verse 16
The sluggard is wiser in his own opinion than seven people who respond with good sense.
Verse 17
Like one who grabs a wild dog by the ears, so is the person passing by who becomes furious over a quarrel not his own.
Verse 18
Like a madman who shoots firebrands and deadly arrows,
Verse 19
so is a person who has deceived his neighbor, and said,“Was I not only joking?”
Verse 20
Where there is no wood, a fire goes out, and where there is no gossip, contention ceases.
Verse 21
Like charcoal is to burning coals, and wood to fire, so is a contentious person to kindle strife.
Verse 22
The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; and they have gone down into a person’s innermost being.
Verse 23
Like a coating of glaze over earthenware are fervent lips with an evil heart.
Verse 24
The one who hates others disguises it with his lips, but he stores up deceit within him.
Verse 25
When he speaks graciously, do not believe him, for there are seven abominations within him.
Verse 26
Though his hatred may be concealed by deceit, his evil will be uncovered in the assembly.
Verse 27
The one who digs a pit will fall into it; the one who rolls a stone– it will come back on him.
Verse 28
A lying tongue hates those crushed by it, and a flattering mouth works ruin.