Proverbs 26
About ProverbsWritten by AI
Proverbs is a book of wisdom: short, memorable sayings about how to live well in God's world. Most of it is credited to Solomon, Israel's king around 950 BC, but it also gathers sayings from other wise teachers, from Agur and King Lemuel, and a collection copied out by the men of King Hezekiah some two centuries later (25:1).
Chapters 1 to 9 are longer talks, framed as a parent teaching a child, with Wisdom pictured as a woman calling out in the streets. From chapter 10 on, the book turns into collections of separate one or two line sayings. It closes with a poem in praise of a capable, God fearing woman.
The key line comes early: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.” Watch for the two paths, wise and foolish, and for the many sayings about speech, work, money and friendship. Remember that proverbs describe how life usually goes. They are wise patterns, not promises that every good choice is rewarded at once.
Before you read Proverbs 26Written by AI
Separate sayings grouped by subject. The first part is about fools, including two sayings side by side that seem to disagree about whether to answer a fool, showing that wisdom must judge each situation. Then come the slacker, the meddler, and the gossip, and finally the person whose smooth words hide hatred.
Similitudes and Instructions
Like snow in summer and rain at harvest,
honor does not befit a fool.
Like a fluttering sparrow or darting swallow,
an undeserved curse does not come to rest.
A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey,
and a rod for the backs of fools!
Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
or you yourself will be like him.
Answer a fool according to his folly,
lest he become wise in his own eyes.
Like cutting off one’s own feet or drinking violence
is the sending of a message by the hand of a fool.
Like lame legs hanging limp
is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
Like binding a stone into a sling
is the giving of honor to a fool.
Like a thorn that goes into the hand of a drunkard
is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
Like an archer who wounds at random
is he who hires a fool or passerby.
As a dog returns to its vomit,
so a fool repeats his folly.
Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes?
There is more hope for a fool than for him.
The slacker says, “A lion is in the road!
A fierce lion roams the public square!”
As a door turns on its hinges,
so the slacker turns on his bed.
The slacker buries his hand in the dish;
it wearies him to bring it back to his mouth.
The slacker is wiser in his own eyes
than seven men who answer discreetly.
Like one who grabs a dog by the ears
is a passerby who meddles in a quarrel not his own.
Like a madman shooting firebrands
and deadly arrows,
so is the man who deceives his neighbor
and says, “I was only joking!”
Without wood, a fire goes out;
without gossip, a conflict ceases.
Like charcoal for embers and wood for fire,
so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.
The words of a gossip are like choice morsels
that go down into the inmost being.
Like glaze covering an earthen vessel
are burning lips and a wicked heart. A hateful man disguises himself with his speech,
but he lays up deceit in his heart.
When he speaks graciously, do not believe him,
for seven abominations fill his heart.
Though his hatred is concealed by deception,
his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.
He who digs a pit will fall into it,
and he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him.
A lying tongue hates those it crushes,
and a flattering mouth causes ruin.