Proverbs 26:1-16

Proverbs 26:1-16 MSG

We no more give honors to fools than pray for snow in summer or rain during harvest. You have as little to fear from an undeserved curse as from the dart of a wren or the swoop of a swallow. A whip for the racehorse, a tiller for the sailboat— and a stick for the back of fools! Don’t respond to the stupidity of a fool; you’ll only look foolish yourself. Answer a fool in simple terms so he doesn’t get a swelled head. You’re only asking for trouble when you send a message by a fool. A proverb quoted by fools is limp as a wet noodle. Putting a fool in a place of honor is like setting a mud brick on a marble column. To ask a moron to quote a proverb is like putting a scalpel in the hands of a drunk. Hire a fool or a drunk and you shoot yourself in the foot. As a dog eats its own vomit, so fools recycle silliness. See that man who thinks he’s so smart? You can expect far more from a fool than from him. Loafers say, “It’s dangerous out there! Tigers are prowling the streets!” and then pull the covers back over their heads. Just as a door turns on its hinges, so a lazybones turns back over in bed. A shiftless sluggard puts his fork in the pie, but is too lazy to lift it to his mouth. Dreamers fantasize their self-importance; they think they are smarter than a whole college faculty.

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