1Like snow in summer or rain in harvest,
so honor is not fitting for a fool.

2Like a fluttering bird or like a flying swallow,
so a curse without cause does not come to rest.

3A whip for the horse and a bridle for the donkey,
and a rod for the backs of fools!

4Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
lest you yourself also be like him.

5Answer a fool according to his folly,
lest he be wise in his own estimation.

6Like cutting off the feet or drinking violence,
so is sending a message by the hand of a fool.

7Like legs that hang limp from the lame,
so is a proverb in the mouth of fools.

8Like tying a stone in a sling,
so is giving honor to a fool.

9Like a thorn that goes into the hand of a drunkard,
so is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.

10Like an archer who wounds at random,
so is the one who hires a fool or hires any passer-by.

11Like a dog that returns to its vomit,
so a fool repeats his folly.

12Do you see a man wise in his own eyes?
There is more hope for a fool than for him.

13The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road!
A lion in the streets!”

14Like a door that turns on its hinges,
so a sluggard turns on his bed.

15The sluggard plunges his hand in the dish;
he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth.

16The sluggard is wiser in his own estimation
than seven people who respond with good sense.

17Like one who grabs a wild dog by the ears,
so is the person passing by who becomes furious over a quarrel not his own.

18Like a madman who shoots
firebrands and deadly arrows,

19so is a person who deceives his neighbor,
and says, “Was I not only joking?”

20Where there is no wood, a fire goes out,
and where there is no gossip, contention ceases.

21Like charcoal is to burning coals, and wood to fire,
so is a contentious person to kindle strife.

22The words of a gossip are like delicious morsels;
they go down into a person’s innermost being.

23Like a coating of glaze over earthenware
are fervent lips with an evil heart.

24The one who hates others disguises it with his lips,
but he stores up deceit within him.

25When he speaks graciously, do not believe him,
for there are seven abominations within him.

26Though his hatred may be concealed by deceit,
his evil will be uncovered in the assembly.

27The one who digs a pit will fall into it;
the one who rolls a stone – it will come back on him.

28A lying tongue hates those crushed by it,
and a flattering mouth works ruin.