Similitudes and Instructions

Like snow in summer and rain at harvest,

honor does not befit a fool.

2 

Like a fluttering sparrow or darting swallow,

an undeserved curse does not come to rest.

3 

A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey,

and a rod for the backs of fools!

4 

Do not answer a fool according to his folly,

or you yourself will be like him

5 

Answer a fool according to his folly,

lest he become wise in his own eyes.

6 

Like cutting off one’s own feet or drinking violence

is the sending of a message by the hand of a fool.

7 

Like lame legs hanging limp

is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.

8 

Like binding a stone into a sling

is the giving of honor to a fool.

9 

[Like] a thorn [that] goes into the hand of a drunkard

is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.

10 

Like an archer who wounds at random

is he who hires a fool or passerby.

11 

As a dog returns to its vomit,[fn]

so a fool repeats his folly.

12 

Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes?

There is more hope for a fool than for him.

13 

The slacker says,“A lion [is] in the road!

A fierce lion [roams] the public square!”

14 

[As] a door turns on its hinges,

so the slacker [turns] on his bed.

15 

The slacker buries his hand in the dish;

it wearies him to bring it back to his mouth.

16 

The slacker [is] wiser in his own eyes

than seven men who answer discreetly.

17 

Like one who grabs a dog by the ears

is a passerby who meddles in a quarrel not his own.

18 

Like a madman shooting firebrands

and deadly arrows,

19 

so is the man who deceives his neighbor

and says,“I was only joking!”

20 

Without wood, a fire goes out;

without gossip, a conflict ceases.

21 

Like charcoal for embers and wood for fire,

so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.

22 

The words of a gossip are like choice morsels

that go down into the inmost being

23 

Like glaze covering an earthen vessel

are burning[fn] lips and a wicked heart.

24 

A hateful man disguises himself with his speech,

but he lays up deceit in his heart.

25 

When he speaks graciously, do not believe him,

for seven abominations [fill] his heart.

26 

Though his hatred is concealed by deception,

his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.

27 

He who digs a pit will fall into it,

and he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him.

28 

A lying tongue hates those it crushes,

and a flattering mouth causes ruin.