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Proverbs 26
1 Snow no more befits the summer, or rain the harvest-time, than honours befit a fool.
2 As the sparrow escapes, and the swallow flies away, so the undeserved curse will never hit its mark.
3 A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and for the backs of fools, the stick.
4 Do not answer a fool in the terms of his folly for fear you grow like him yourself.
5 Answer a fool in the terms of his folly for fear he imagines himself wise.
6 … He drinks a bitter draught who sends a message by a fool.
7 Unreliable as a lame man’s legs: so is a proverb in the mouth of fools.
8 Like fixing a stone tight in the sling, so is giving honours to a fool.
9 A thorn branch in a drunkard’s hand: such is a proverb in the mouth of fools.
10 An archer wounding all who pass: such is the man who employs a fool.
11 As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool reverts to his folly.
12 You see some man who thinks himself wise? More hope for a fool than for him!
13 ‘There is a lion in the street,’ says the idler, ‘a lion in the square!’
14 The door turns on its hinges, the idler, on his bed.
15 Into the dish the idler dips his hand but is too tired to bring it back to his mouth.
16 The idler thinks himself wiser than seven men who answer with discretion.
17 Like catching a stray dog by the tail, so is interfering in the quarrels of others.
18 Like a madman hurling firebrands, arrows and death,
19 so is the man who lies to his neighbour and then says, ‘It was all a joke’.
20 No wood, and the fire goes out; no talebearer, and quarrelling dies down.
21 Charcoal for live embers, wood for fire, for kindling strife a quarrelsome man.
22 The words of a talebearer are tasty morsels that go right down into the belly.
23 A glaze applied to an earthen pot: such are smooth lips and wicked heart.
24 Where hatred is there are dissembling lips, but deep within lies treachery;
25 do not trust him if the man be fair of speech, since in his heart lurk seven abominations.
26 Hatred may well disguise itself with guile, only to unmask its spite before the community.
27 The man who digs a pit falls into it, the stone comes back on him that rolls it.
28 The lying tongue hates the truth, the fawning mouth brings ruin.