NRSV Proverbs 26 Chapter
26:1
Like snow in summer or rain in harvest, so honor is not fitting for a fool.
26:2
Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying, an undeserved curse goes nowhere.
26:3
A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the back of fools.
26:4
Do not answer fools according to their folly, or you will be a fool yourself.
26:5
Answer fools according to their folly, or they will be wise in their own eyes.
26:6
It is like cutting off one's foot and drinking down violence, to send a message by a fool.
26:7
The legs of a disabled person hang limp; so does a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
26:8
It is like binding a stone in a sling to give honor to a fool.
26:9
Like a thornbush brandished by the hand of a drunkard is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
26:10
Like an archer who wounds everybody is one who hires a passing fool or drunkard.
26:11
Like a dog that returns to its vomit is a fool who reverts to his folly.
26:12
Do you see persons wise in their own eyes? There is more hope for fools than for them.
26:13
The lazy person says, "There is a lion in the road! There is a lion in the streets!"
26:14
As a door turns on its hinges, so does a lazy person in bed.
26:15
The lazy person buries a hand in the dish, and is too tired to bring it back to the mouth.
26:16
The lazy person is wiser in self-esteem than seven who can answer discreetly.
26:17
Like somebody who takes a passing dog by the ears is one who meddles in the quarrel of another.
26:18
Like a maniac who shoots deadly firebrands and arrows,
26:19
so is one who deceives a neighbor and says, "I am only joking!"
26:20
For lack of wood the fire goes out, and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases.
26:21
As charcoal is to hot embers and wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome person for kindling strife.
26:22
The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body.
26:23
Like the glaze covering an earthen vessel are smooth lips with an evil heart.
26:24
An enemy dissembles in speaking while harboring deceit within;
26:25
when an enemy speaks graciously, do not believe it, for there are seven abominations concealed within;
26:26
though hatred is covered with guile, the enemy's wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.
26:27
Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and a stone will come back on the one who starts it rolling.
26:28
A lying tongue hates its victims, and a flattering mouth works ruin.