1 Like snow in the summer and like rain at the harvest, so honor is not fitting for a fool.
2 Like the sparrow [is] to fluttering and like the swallow [is] to flying, so an undeserved curse does not go forth.
3 A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the back of fools.
4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly lest you become like him--even you.
5 Answer a fool according to his folly, or else he will be wise in his own eyes.
6 [Like] cutting off feet [or] drinking violence, so [is] he who sends messages in the hand of a fool.
7 [Like] legs that hang limp from a lame person, so [is] a proverb in the mouth of fools.
8 Like binding a stone in a sling, so [is] giving honor to a fool.
9 [Like] a thorn that goes up in the hand of a drunkard, so [is] a proverb in the mouth of fools.
10 [Like] an archer who wounds everyone, so [is] he who hires a fool or he who hires passersby.
11 Like a dog returning to his vomit [is] a fool reverting to his folly.
12 [Do] you see a man wise in his own eyes? [There is more] hope for a fool than for him.
13 A lazy person says "A lion [is] in the road! A lion among the streets!"
14 The door turns on its hinge, and a lazy person on his bed.
15 A lazy person buries his hands in the dish; he is [too] tired to return it to his mouth.
16 A lazy person is wiser in his eyes than seven who answer discreetly.
17 Grabbing onto the ears of a dog passing by [is] one who meddles in a quarrel [that is] not his own.
18 Like a maniac who shoots firebrands, arrows, and death,
19 so [is] a man who deceives his neighbor, but says "Am I not joking?"
20 For lack of wood, a fire goes out, and where there is no whisperer, quarreling will cease.
21 [As] charcoal [is] to hot embers and wood [is] to fire, so a man of quarrels [is] to kindling strife.
22 The words of a whisperer [are] like delicious morsels, and they go down to the inner parts of the body.
23 [Like] {impure silver} which overlays an earthen vessel, [so are] smooth lips and an evil heart.
24 On his lips, an enemy will pretend, but {inside} he will harbor deceit.
25 When he makes his voice gracious, do not believe him, for seven abominations [are] in his heart.
26 Though hatred is covered with guile, its evil will be exposed in the assembly.
27 He who digs a pit, in it he will fall, and he who rolls a stone, on him it will come back.
28 A tongue of deceit hates its victim, and a flattering mouth makes ruin.