1Like snow in summer and rain at harvesttime,So honor is not fitting for a dullard.
2As a sparrow must flit and a swallow fly,So a gratuitous curse must backfire.abackfire Kethib, “fail.”
3A whip for a horse and a bridle for a donkey,And a rod for the back of dullards.
4Do not answer a dullard in accord with his folly,Else you will become like him.
5Answer a dullard in accord with his folly,Else he will think himself wise.
6One who sends a message by a dullardWill wear out legs and must put up withbmust put up with Lit. “drink.” lawlessness.
7As legs hang limp on a cripple,So is a proverb in the mouth of dullards.
8Like a pebble in a sling,So is paying honor to a dullard.
9As a thorn comes to the hand of a drunkard,So a proverb to the mouth of a dullard.
10A master can produce anything,cA master can produce anything Meaning of Heb. uncertain. But anyone who hires a dullard is as one who hires transients.dtransients Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
11As a dog returns to its vomit,So a dullard repeats his folly.
12If you see a man who thinks himself wise,There is more hope for a dullard than for him.
13The sluggard says,“There’s a cub on the road, a lion in the squares.”
14The door turns upon the hinge,And the sluggard upon the bed.
15The sluggard buries a hand in the bowl,And will not even bring it to the mouth.
16In self-regard, the sluggard is wiserThan seven who give good advice.
17A passerby who gets embroiled in someone else’s quarrelIs like one who seizes a dog by its ears.
18Like a lunaticelunatic Meaning of Heb. uncertain. scattering deadly firebrands, arrows,
19Is the man who cheats his fellow and says, “I was only joking.”
20For lack of wood a fire goes out,And without a grumbler contention is stilled.
21Charcoal for embers and wood for a fireAnd a contentious man for kindling strife.
22The words of a grumbler are bruising;fbruising Meaning of Heb. uncertain. They penetrate one’s inmost parts.
23Base silver laid over earthenwareAre ardent lips with an evil mind.
24An enemy dissembles with his speech,Inwardly he harbors deceit.
25Though he be fair-spoken do not trust him,For seven abominations are in his mind.
26His hatred may be concealed by dissimulation,But his evil will be exposed to public view.
27One who digs a pit will fall in it,And a stone will roll back upon the one who is rolling it.
28A lying tongue hates those crushed by it;gthose crushed by it Meaning of Heb. uncertain. Smooth speech throws one down.