1Like 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,

lest you be a fool yourself.*

5Answer fools according to their folly,

lest they 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 lame 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.i

11Like a dog that returns to its vomit

is a fool who reverts to his folly.*

12Do you see people 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 someone 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 glazej covering an earthen vessel

are smoothk 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.*