Proverbs 26

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¹Honoring someone stupid is as inappropriate as snow in the summer or rain during harvest.

²A curse that isn't deserved won't land on the person, like a fluttering sparrow or a flitting swallow.

³Horses need a whip, donkeys need a bridle, and stupid people need a rod on their backs!

⁴Don't answer stupid people following their stupidity, or you'll become as bad as them.

⁵Answer stupid people following their stupidity, otherwise they'll think they're wise.

⁶Trusting someone stupid to deliver a message is like cutting of your feet or drinking poison.

⁷A proverb spoken by someone stupid is as useless as a lame person's legs.

⁸Honoring someone stupid is as pointless as tying a stone into a sling.

⁹A proverb spoken by someone stupid is as ridiculous as a thorn bush waved around by a drunk.

¹⁰Anyone who hires someone stupid or just a passer-by is like an archer wounding people by shooting arrows at random.

¹¹Stupid people repeat their stupidity like a dog returning to its vomit.

¹²Have you seen a man who is wise in his own eyes? There's more hope for stupid people than for him!

¹³Lazy people are the ones who say, “There's a lion on the road—a lion running around the streets!”

¹⁴A lazy person turns in bed like a door turns on its hinge.

¹⁵Lazy people put their hands in a dish, but are too tired to lift the food to their mouths.

¹⁶In their own eyes lazy people are wiser than many sensible advisors.

¹⁷Interfering in someone else's quarrel is like grabbing a stray dog by the ears.

¹⁸You're like a crazy person firing off blazing arrows and killing people

¹⁹if you lie to your friend and then say, “I was only joking!”

²⁰Without wood, the fire goes out; and without gossips, arguments stop.

²¹An argumentative person fires up quarrels like putting charcoal on hot embers or wood on a fire.

²²Listening to gossip is like gulping down bites of your favorite food—they go deep down inside you.

²³Smooth talking with evil intent is like a shiny lead glaze on an earthenware pot.

²⁴People say nice things to you even though they hate you; deep down they're just lying to you.

²⁵When people talk nicely to you, don't believe them—their minds are full of hate for you.

²⁶Even though their hatred may be hidden by cunning tricks, their evil will be revealed to everyone.

²⁷Those who dig pits to trap others will fall in themselves, and those who start boulders rolling will be crushed themselves.

²⁸If you tell lies, you show you hate your victims; if you flatter people, you cause disaster.