Proverbs 26

Contemporary English Version

⁶ Sending a message by a fool
is like chopping off your foot
    just to spite yourself.
⁷ A fool with words of wisdom
is like an athlete
    with legs that can't move.^[a]
8 Are you going to honor a fool?
Why not shoot a slingshot
    with the rock tied tight?
⁹ A thornbush waved around
    in the hand of a drunkard
is no worse than a proverb
    in the mouth of a fool.

¹⁰ It's no smarter to shoot arrows
    at every passerby
than it is to hire a bunch
    of worthless nobodies.^[b]
11 (A) Dogs return to eat their vomit,
just as fools repeat
    their foolishness.
¹² There is more hope for a fool
than for someone who says,
    “I'm really smart!”

¹³ Don't be lazy and keep saying,
    “There's a lion outside!”
¹⁴ A door turns on its hinges,
but a lazy person
    just turns over in bed.
¹⁵ Some of us are so lazy
that we won't lift a hand
    to feed ourselves.
¹⁶ A lazy person says,
“I am smarter
    than everyone else.”

¹⁷ It's better to take hold
    of a mad dog by the ears
than to take part
    in someone else's argument.
¹⁸ It's no crazier to shoot
    sharp and flaming arrows
¹⁹ than to cheat someone and say,
    “I was only fooling!”

²⁰ Where there is no fuel
    a fire goes out;
where there is no gossip
    arguments come to an end.
²¹ Troublemakers start trouble,
just as sparks and fuel
    start a fire.
²² There is nothing so delicious
as the taste of gossip!
    It melts in your mouth.

²³ Hiding hateful thoughts
    behind smooth^[c] talk
is like coating a clay pot
    with a cheap glaze.
²⁴ The pleasant talk
    of an enemy
hides more evil plans
²⁵ than can be counted—
    so don't believe a word!
²⁶ Everyone will see through
    those evil plans.
^27 (B) If you dig a pit,
    you will fall in;
if you start a stone rolling,
    it will roll back on you.
²⁸ Watch out for anyone
who tells lies and flatters—
    they are out to get you.