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26:1  Like snow in summer and rain at harvest, honor is inappropriate for a fool.
26:2  Like a flitting sparrow or a fluttering swallow, an undeserved curse goes nowhere.
26:3  A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the backs of fools.
26:4  Don’t answer a fool according to his foolishness or you’ll be like him yourself.
26:5  Answer a fool according to his foolishness or he’ll become wise in his own eyes.
26:6  The one who sends a message by a fool’s hand cuts off his own feet and drinks violence.
26:7  A proverb in the mouth of a fool is like lame legs that hang limp.
26:8  Giving honor to a fool is like binding a stone in a sling.
26:9  A proverb in the mouth of a fool is like a stick with thorns, brandished by the hand of a drunkard.
26:10  The one who hires a fool or who hires those passing by is like an archer who wounds everyone indiscriminately.
26:11  As a dog returns to its vomit, so also a fool repeats his foolishness.
26:12  Do you see a person who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
26:13  The slacker says, “There’s a lion in the road— a lion in the public square!”
26:14  A door turns on its hinges, and a slacker, on his bed.
26:15  The slacker buries his hand in the bowl; he is too weary to bring it to his mouth!
26:16  In his own eyes, a slacker is wiser than seven who can answer sensibly.
26:17  A person who is passing by and meddles in a quarrel that’s not his is like one who grabs a dog by the ears.
26:18  Like a madman who throws flaming darts and deadly arrows,
26:19  so is the person who deceives his neighbor and says, “I was only joking!”
26:20  Without wood, fire goes out; without a gossip, conflict dies down.
26:21  As charcoal for embers and wood for fire, so is a quarrelsome person for kindling strife.
26:22  A gossip’s words are like choice food that goes down to one’s innermost being.
26:23  Smooth lips with an evil heart are like glaze on an earthen vessel.
26:24  A hateful person disguises himself with his speech and harbors deceit within.
26:25  When he speaks graciously, don’t believe him, for there are seven detestable things in his heart.
26:26  Though his hatred is concealed by deception, his evil will be revealed in the assembly.
26:27  The one who digs a pit will fall into it, and whoever rolls a stone— it will come back on him.
26:28  A lying tongue hates those it crushes, and a flattering mouth causes ruin.