Proverbs 26 - Contemporary English Version Interconfessional Edition（CEVDCI）

Don't Be a Fool

1Expecting snow in summer

and rain in the dry season

makes more sense

than honoring a fool.

2A curse you don't deserve

will take wings and fly away

like a sparrow or a swallow.

3Horses and donkeys

must be beaten and bridled—

and so must fools.

4Don't make a fool of yourself

by answering a fool.

5But if you answer any fools,

show how foolish they are,

so they won't feel smart.

6Sending a message by a fool

is like chopping off your foot

just to spite yourself.

7A fool with words of wisdom

is like an athlete

with legs that can't move.

8Are you going to honor a fool?

Why not shoot a slingshot

with the rock tied tight?

9A thornbush waved around

in the hand of a drunkard

is no worse than a proverb

in the mouth of a fool.

10It's no smarter to shoot arrows

at every passerby

than it is to hire a bunch

of worthless nobodies.

11 talk

is like coating a clay pot

with a cheap glaze.

24The pleasant talk

of an enemy

hides more evil plans

25than can be counted—

so don't believe a word!

26Everyone will see through

those evil plans.

27 Si 27.25-27. If you dig a pit,

you will fall in;

if you start a stone rolling,

it will roll back on you.

28Watch out for anyone

who tells lies and flatters—

they are out to get you.