Proverbs 26-27

26Like snow in summer or rain in harvest,
so honor is not fitting for a fool.
²Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying,
an undeserved curse goes nowhere.
³A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey,
and a rod for the back of fools.
⁴Do not answer fools according to their folly,
or you will be a fool yourself.
⁵Answer fools according to their folly,
or they will be wise in their own eyes.
⁶It is like cutting off one’s foot and drinking down violence,
to send a message by a fool.
⁷The legs of a disabled person hang limp;
so does a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
⁸It is like binding a stone in a sling
to give honor to a fool.
⁹Like a thornbush brandished by the hand of a drunkard
is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
¹⁰Like an archer who wounds everybody
is one who hires a passing fool or drunkard.
¹¹Like a dog that returns to its vomit
is a fool who reverts to his folly.
¹²Do you see persons wise in their own eyes?
There is more hope for fools than for them.
¹³The lazy person says, “There is a lion in the road!
There is a lion in the streets!”
¹⁴As a door turns on its hinges,
so does a lazy person in bed.
¹⁵The lazy person buries a hand in the dish,
and is too tired to bring it back to the mouth.
¹⁶The lazy person is wiser in self-esteem
than seven who can answer discreetly.
¹⁷Like somebody who takes a passing dog by the ears
is one who meddles in the quarrel of another.
¹⁸Like a maniac who shoots deadly firebrands and arrows, ¹⁹so is one who deceives a neighbor
and says, “I am only joking!”
²⁰For lack of wood the fire goes out,
and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases.
²¹As charcoal is to hot embers and wood to fire,
so is a quarrelsome person for kindling strife.
²²The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels;
they go down into the inner parts of the body.
²³Like the glaze covering an earthen vessel
are smooth lips with an evil heart.
²⁴An enemy dissembles in speaking
while harboring deceit within;
²⁵when an enemy speaks graciously, do not believe it,
for there are seven abominations concealed within;
²⁶though hatred is covered with guile,
the enemy’s wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.
²⁷Whoever digs a pit will fall into it,
and a stone will come back on the one who starts it rolling.
²⁸A lying tongue hates its victims,
and a flattering mouth works ruin.
27Do not boast about tomorrow,
for you do not know what a day may bring.
²Let another praise you, and not your own mouth—
a stranger, and not your own lips.
³A stone is heavy, and sand is weighty,
but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both.
⁴Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming,
but who is able to stand before jealousy?
⁵Better is open rebuke
than hidden love.
⁶Well meant are the wounds a friend inflicts,
but profuse are the kisses of an enemy.
⁷The sated appetite spurns honey,
but to a ravenous appetite even the bitter is sweet.
⁸Like a bird that strays from its nest
is one who strays from home.
⁹Perfume and incense make the heart glad,
but the soul is torn by trouble.
¹⁰Do not forsake your friend or the friend of your parent;
do not go to the house of your kindred in the day of your calamity.
Better is a neighbor who is nearby
than kindred who are far away.
¹¹Be wise, my child, and make my heart glad,
so that I may answer whoever reproaches me.
¹²The clever see danger and hide;
but the simple go on, and suffer for it.
¹³Take the garment of one who has given surety for a stranger;
seize the pledge given as surety for foreigners.
¹⁴Whoever blesses a neighbor with a loud voice,
rising early in the morning,
will be counted as cursing.
¹⁵A continual dripping on a rainy day
and a contentious wife are alike;
¹⁶to restrain her is to restrain the wind
or to grasp oil in the right hand.
¹⁷Iron sharpens iron,
and one person sharpens the wits of another.
¹⁸Anyone who tends a fig tree will eat its fruit,
and anyone who takes care of a master will be honored.
¹⁹Just as water reflects the face,
so one human heart reflects another.
²⁰Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied,
and human eyes are never satisfied.
²¹The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,
so a person is tested by being praised.
²²Crush a fool in a mortar with a pestle
along with crushed grain,
but the folly will not be driven out. ²³Know well the condition of your flocks,
and give attention to your herds;
²⁴for riches do not last forever,
nor a crown for all generations.
²⁵When the grass is gone, and new growth appears,
and the herbage of the mountains is gathered,
²⁶the lambs will provide your clothing,
and the goats the price of a field;
²⁷there will be enough goats’ milk for your food,
for the food of your household
and nourishment for your servant-girls.

From the oremus Bible Browser https://bible.oremus.org v2.9.2 30 June 2021.