BBEV Proverbs Chapter 26
26:1 Like snow in summer and rain when the grain is being cut, so honour is not natural for the foolish. 26:2 As the sparrow in her wandering and the swallow in her flight, so the curse does not come without a cause. 26:3 A whip for the horse, a mouth-bit for the ass, and a rod for the back of the foolish. 26:4 Do not give to the foolish man a foolish answer, or you will be like him. 26:5 Give a foolish man a foolish answer, or he will seem wise to himself. 26:6 He who sends news by the hand of a foolish man is cutting off his feet and drinking in damage. 26:7 The legs of one who has no power of walking are hanging loose; so is a wise saying in the mouth of the foolish. 26:8 Giving honour to a foolish man is like attempting to keep a stone fixed in a cord. 26:9 Like a thorn which goes up into the hand of a man overcome by drink, so is a wise saying in the mouth of a foolish man. 26:10 Like an archer wounding all who go by, is a foolish man overcome by drink. 26:11 Like a dog going back to the food which he has not been able to keep down, is the foolish man doing his foolish acts over again. 26:12 Have you seen a man who seems to himself to be wise? There is more hope for the foolish than for him. 26:13 The hater of work says, There is a lion in the way; a lion is in the streets. 26:14 A door is turned on its pillar, and the hater of work on his bed. 26:15 The hater of work puts his hand deep into the basin: lifting it again to his mouth is a weariness to him. 26:16 The hater of work seems to himself wiser than seven men who are able to give an answer with good sense. 26:17 He who gets mixed up in a fight which is not his business, is like one who takes a dog by the ears while it is going by. 26:18 As one who is off his head sends about flaming sticks and arrows of death, 26:19 So is the man who gets the better of his neighbour by deceit, and says, Am I not doing so in sport? 26:20 Without wood, the fire goes out; and where there is no secret talk, argument is ended. 26:21 Like breath on coals and wood on fire, so a man given to argument gets a fight started. 26:22 The words of one who says evil of his neighbour secretly are like sweet food, they go down into the inner parts of the stomach. 26:23 Smooth lips and an evil heart are like a vessel of earth plated with silver waste. 26:24 With his lips the hater makes things seem what they are not, but deceit is stored up inside him; 26:25 When he says fair words, have no belief in him; for in his heart are seven evils: 26:26 Though his hate is covered with deceit, his sin will be seen openly before the meeting of the people. 26:27 He who makes a hole in the earth will himself go falling into it: and on him by whom a stone is rolled the stone will come back again. 26:28 A false tongue has hate for those who have clean hearts, and a smooth mouth is a cause of falling.