Proverbs 26

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 Like snow in summer, or rain in harvest, honor for a fool is out of place.	1 In the manner of snow in the summer, and rain at the harvest, so also is glory unfit for the foolish.
2 Like the sparrow in its flitting, like the swallow in its flight, a curse uncalled-for arrives nowhere.	2 Like a bird flying away to another place, and like a sparrow that hurries away freely, so also a curse uttered against someone without cause will pass away.
3 The whip for the horse, the bridle for the ass, and the rod for the back of fools.	3 A whip is for a horse, and a muzzle is for donkey, and a rod is for the back of the imprudent.
4 Answer not the fool according to his folly, lest you too become like him.	4 Do not respond to the foolish according to his folly, lest you become like him.
5 Answer the fool according to his folly, lest he become wise in his own eyes.	5 Respond to the foolish according to his folly, lest he imagine himself to be wise.
6 He cuts off his feet, he drinks down violence, who sends messages by a fool.	6 Whoever sends words by a foolish messenger has lame feet and drinks iniquity.
7 A proverb in the mouth of a fool hangs limp, like crippled legs.	7 In the manner of a lame man who has beautiful legs to no purpose, so also is a parable unfit for the mouth of the foolish.
8 Like one who entangles the stone in the sling is he who gives honor to a fool.	8 Just like one who casts a stone into the pile of Mercury, so also is he who gives honor to the foolish.
9 Like a thorn stick brandished by the hand of a drunkard is a proverb in the mouth of fools.	9 In the manner of a thorn, if it were to spring up from the hand of a drunkard, so also is a parable in the mouth of the foolish.
10 Like an archer wounding all who pass by is he who hires a drunken fool.	10 Judgment determines cases. And whoever imposes silence on the foolish mitigates anger.
11 As the dog returns to his vomit, so the fool repeats his folly.	11 Like a dog that returns to his vomit, so also is the imprudent who repeats his foolishness.
12 You see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.	12 Have you seen a man who seems wise to himself? There will be greater hope held for the unwise than for him.
13 The sluggard says, "There is a lion in the street, a lion in the middle of the square!"	13 The lazy one says, “There is a lion along the way, and a lioness in the roads.”
14 The door turns on its hinges, the sluggard, on his bed!	14 Just as a door turns upon its hinges, so also does the lazy one turn upon his bed.
15 The sluggard loses his hand in the dish; he is too weary to lift it to his mouth.	15 The lazy one conceals his hand under his arms, and it is a labor for him to move it to his mouth.
16 The sluggard imagines himself wiser than seven men who answer with good sense.	16 The lazy one seems wiser to himself than seven men speaking judgments.
17 Like the man who seizes a passing dog by the ears is he who meddles in a quarrel not his own.	17 Just like one who takes hold of a dog by the ears, so also is he who crosses impatiently and meddles in the quarrels of another.
18 Like a crazed archer scattering firebrands and deadly arrows	18 Just as he is guilty who let loose the arrows and the lances unto death,
19 Is the man who deceives his neighbor, and then says, "I was only joking."	19 so also is the man who harms his friend by deceitfulness. And when he has been apprehended, he says, “I did it jokingly.”
20 For lack of wood, the fire dies out; and when there is no talebearer, strife subsides.	20 When the wood fails, the fire will be extinguished. And when the gossiper is taken away, conflicts will be quelled.
21 What a bellows is to live coals, what wood is to fire, such is a contentious man in enkindling strife.	21 Just as charcoals are to burning coals, and wood is to fire, so also is an angry man who stirs up quarrels.
22 The words of a talebearer are like dainty morsels that sink into one's inmost being.	22 The words of a whisperer seem simple, but they penetrate to the innermost parts of the self.
23 Like a glazed finish on earthenware are smooth lips with a wicked heart.	23 In the same manner as an earthen vessel, if it were adorned with impure silver, conceited lips are allied with a wicked heart.
24 With his lips an enemy pretends, but in his inmost being he maintains deceit;	24 An enemy is known by his lips, though it is from his heart that he draws out deceit.
25 When he speaks graciously, trust him not, for seven abominations are in his heart.	25 When he will have lowered his voice, do not believe him, for there are seven vices in his heart.
26 A man may conceal hatred under dissimulation, but his malice will be revealed in the assembly.	26 Whoever covers hatred with deceit, his malice shall be revealed in the assembly.
27 He who digs a pit falls into it; and a stone comes back upon him who rolls it.	27 Whoever digs a pit will fall into it. And whoever rolls a stone, it will roll back to him.
28 The lying tongue is its owner's enemy, and the flattering mouth works ruin.	28 A false tongue does not love truth. And a slippery mouth works ruin.