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honour is not fitting for a fool.
2 Like a flitting sparrow or a fluttering swallow,
an undeserved curse goes nowhere.
3 A whip 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 yourself.
5 Answer a fool according to his folly,
or he will be wise in his own eyes.
6 Sending a message by the hand of a fool
is like cutting off one’s own feet and drinking violence.
7 Like a lame man’s legs hanging limp,
so is a parable in the mouth of a fool.
8 Giving honour to a fool
is like placing a stone in a sling.
9 Like a thornbush in the hand of a drunkard,
so is a parable in the mouth of a fool.
10 Like an archer who wounds everyone
is he who hires a fool or those passing by.
11 As a dog returns to its vomit,
so a fool repeats 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 fierce lion is roaming the streets”
14 As a door turns on its hinges,
so the sluggard turns in his bed.
15 The sluggard buries his hand in the dish;
he is too lazy to bring it to his mouth again.
16 The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes
than seven men who can answer sensibly.
17 He who passes by and meddles in a quarrel not his own
is like one who seizes a dog by the ears.
18 Like a madman who shoots
firebrands or deadly arrows,
18 so if the man who deceives his neighbour
and says, “I was only joking!”
20 Without wood, a fire goes out;
without a gossip, strife ceases.
21 As charcoal is to burning embers and wood is to fire,
so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.
22 The words of a gossip are like tasty morsels;
they go down into a man’s innermost parts.
23 Smooth lips and an evil heart
are like the glaze over an earthenware vessel.
24 A man who hates disguises it with his lips,
but he harbours deceit within himself.
25 When he speaks graciously, do not believe him,
for there are seven abominations in his heart.
26 Though his hatred is concealed by deception,
his wickedness will be exposed before the assembly.
27 Whoever digs a pit will fall into it;
whoever rolls a stone will have it roll back on him.
28 A lying tongue hates those it crushes,
and a flattering mouth works ruin.