26
1 Honoring someone stupid is as inappropriate as snow in the summer or rain during harvest.
2 A curse that isn't deserved won't land on the person, like a fluttering sparrow or a flitting swallow.
3 Horses need a whip, donkeys need a bridle, and stupid people need a rod on their backs!
4 Don't answer stupid people following their stupidity, or you'll become as bad as them.
5 Answer stupid people following their stupidity, otherwise they'll think they're wise.*
6 Trusting someone stupid to deliver a message is like cutting off your feet or drinking poison.
7 A proverb spoken by someone stupid is as useless as a lame person's legs.
8 Honoring someone stupid is as pointless as tying a stone into a sling.†
9 A proverb spoken by someone stupid is as ridiculous as a thorn bush waved around by a drunk.
10 Anyone who hires someone stupid or just a passer-by is like an archer wounding people by shooting arrows at random.‡
11 Stupid people repeat their stupidity like a dog returning to its vomit.
12 Have you seen a man who is wise in his own eyes? There's more hope for stupid people than for him!
13 Lazy people are the ones who say, “There's a lion on the road—a lion running around the streets!”§
14 A lazy person turns in bed like a door turns on its hinge.
15 Lazy people put their hands in a dish, but are too tired to lift the food to their mouths.
16 In their own eyes lazy people are wiser than many* sensible advisors.
17 Interfering in someone else's quarrel is like grabbing a stray dog by the ears.
18 You're like a crazy person firing off blazing arrows and killing people
19 if you lie to your friend and then say, “I was only joking!”
20 Without wood, the fire goes out; and without gossips, arguments stop.
21 An argumentative person fires up quarrels like putting charcoal on hot embers or wood on a fire.
22 Listening to gossip is like gulping down bites of your favorite food—they go deep down inside you.
23 Smooth† talking with evil intent is like a shiny lead glaze on an earthenware pot.‡
24 People say nice things to you even though they hate you; deep down they're just lying to you.
25 When people talk nicely to you, don't believe them—their minds are full of hate for you.
26 Even though their hatred may be hidden by cunning tricks, their evil will be revealed to everyone.
27 Those who dig pits to trap others will fall in themselves, and those who start boulders rolling will be crushed themselves.
28 If you tell lies, you show you hate your victims; if you flatter people, you cause disaster.
* 26:5 While this verse appears to contradict the previous one, there is a play on words here. In the first, “following their stupidity” means “agreeing with it.” In the second, the phrase means “as it deserves.” † 26:8 For if the stone is tied in, the slingshot cannot function. ‡ 26:10 The Hebrew of this verse is unclear. § 26:13 In other words, they make excuses for not going out to work. * 26:16 In the text the number seven is given, symbolic of a large number, completion. This is used in a similar way in verse 25. † 26:23 Septuagint reading. ‡ 26:23 The implication here is that like a fine finish given to a cheap pot, pleasant words can mask bad motives.