Proverbs 26:8 | New International Reader’s Version

New International Reader’s Version

1 It isn’t proper to honour a foolish person. That’s like having snow in summer or rain at harvest time. 2 A curse given for no reason is like a wandering bird or a flying sparrow. It doesn’t go anywhere. 3 A whip is for a horse, and a harness is for a donkey. And a beating is for the backs of foolish people. 4 Don’t answer a foolish person in keeping with their foolish acts. If you do, you yourself will be just like them. 5 Answer a foolish person in keeping with their foolish acts. If you do not, they will be wise in their own eyes. 6 Sending a message in the hand of a foolish person is like cutting off your feet or drinking poison. 7 A proverb in the mouth of a foolish person is like disabled legs that are useless. 8 Giving honour to a foolish person is like tying a stone in a slingshot. 9 A proverb in the mouth of a foolish person is like a thorn in the hand of someone who is drunk. 10 Anyone who hires a foolish person or someone who is passing by is like a person who shoots arrows at just anybody. 11 Foolish people who do the same foolish things again are like a dog that returns to where it has thrown up. 12 Do you see a person who is wise in their own eyes? There is more hope for a foolish person than for them. 13 A person who doesn’t want to work says, ‘There’s a lion in the road! There’s an angry lion wandering in the streets!’ 14 A person who doesn’t want to work turns over in bed just like a door that swings to and fro. 15 A person who doesn’t want to work leaves his hand in his plate. He acts as if he is too tired to bring his hand back up to his mouth. 16 A person who doesn’t want to work is wiser in his own eyes than seven people who give careful answers. 17 Don’t be quick to get mixed up in someone else’s fight. That’s like grabbing a stray dog by its ears. 18 Suppose a crazy person shoots flaming arrows that can kill. 19 Someone who lies to their neighbour and says, ‘I was only joking!’ is just like that crazy person. 20 If you don’t have wood, your fire goes out. If you don’t talk about others, arguing dies down. 21 Coal glows, and wood burns. And a person who argues stirs up conflict. 22 The words of anyone who talks about others are like tasty bites of food. They go deep down inside you. 23 Warm words that come from an evil heart are like a shiny coating on a clay pot. 24 Enemies use their words as a mask. They hide their evil plans in their hearts. 25 Even though what they say can be charming, don’t believe them. That’s because seven things God hates fill that person’s heart. 26 Their hatred can be hidden by lies. But their evil plans will be shown to everyone. 27 Whoever digs a pit will fall into it. If someone rolls a big stone, it will roll back on them. 28 A tongue that tells lies hates the people it hurts. And words that seem to praise you destroy you.

English Standard Version

1 Like snow in summer or rain in harvest, so honor is not fitting for a fool. (1Sa 12:17; Pr 17:7; Pr 19:10; Pr 26:8)

1Sa 12:17Pr 17:7Pr 19:10Pr 26:8

2 Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying, a curse that is causeless does not alight. (Nu 23:8; De 23:5; 2Sa 16:12; Ps 84:3; Pr 27:8)

Nu 23:8De 23:52Sa 16:12Ps 84:3Pr 27:8

3 A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the back of fools. (Ps 32:9; Pr 19:29) 4 Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself. (2Sa 16:11; 2Ki 18:36; Lu 23:9) 5 Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes. (Pr 28:11; Mt 16:1; Mt 21:24; Ro 12:16)

Pr 28:11Mt 16:1Mt 21:24Ro 12:16

6 Whoever sends a message by the hand of a fool cuts off his own feet and drinks violence. (Job 15:16; Pr 13:2) 7 Like a lame man’s legs, which hang useless, is a proverb in the mouth of fools. 8 Like one who binds the stone in the sling is one who gives honor to a fool. (Pr 26:1) 9 Like a thorn that goes up into the hand of a drunkard is a proverb in the mouth of fools. (Pr 23:35) 10 Like an archer who wounds everyone is one who hires a passing fool or drunkard.^[1] 11 Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly. (Ex 8:15; 2Pe 2:22) 12 Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him. (Pr 28:11; Pr 29:20; Ro 12:16) 13 The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road! There is a lion in the streets!” (Pr 22:13) 14 As a door turns on its hinges, so does a sluggard on his bed. 15 The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; it wears him out to bring it back to his mouth. (Pr 19:24) 16 The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly. (Job 5:19; Pr 6:16; Pr 26:12; Pr 26:25)

Job 5:19Pr 6:16Pr 26:12Pr 26:25

17 Whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own is like one who takes a passing dog by the ears. 18 Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death (Isa 50:11) 19 is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, “I am only joking!” 20 For lack of wood the fire goes out, and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases. (Pr 16:28; Pr 22:10) 21 As charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife. (Pr 15:18) 22 The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body. (Pr 18:8; Pr 26:20) 23 Like the glaze^[2] covering an earthen vessel are fervent lips with an evil heart. (Pr 25:4; Mt 23:27; Lu 11:39) 24 Whoever hates disguises himself with his lips and harbors deceit in his heart; 25 when he speaks graciously, believe him not, for there are seven abominations in his heart; (Ps 28:3; Pr 26:16) 26 though his hatred be covered with deception, his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly. 27 Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and a stone will come back on him who starts it rolling. (Ps 7:15; Pr 28:10) 28 A lying tongue hates its victims, and a flattering mouth works ruin.