1Like snow in summer and like rain in harvest,
         So honor is not fitting for a fool.

2Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying,
         So a curse without cause does not alight.

3A whip is for the horse, a bridle for the donkey,
         And a rod for the back of fools.

4Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
         Or you will also be like him.

5Answer a fool as his folly deserves,
         That he not be wise in his own eyes.

6He cuts off his own feet and drinks violence
         Who sends a message by the hand of a fool.

7Like the legs which are useless to the lame,
         So is a proverb in the mouth of fools.

8Like one who binds a stone in a sling,
         So is he who gives honor to a fool.

9Like a thorn which falls into the hand of a drunkard,
         So is a proverb in the mouth of fools.

10Like an archer who wounds everyone,
         So is he who hires a fool or who hires those who pass by.

11Like a dog that returns to its vomit
         Is a fool who repeats his folly.

12Do you see a man wise in his own eyes?
         There is more hope for a fool than for him.

13The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road!
         A lion is in the open square!”

14As the door turns on its hinges,
         So does the sluggard on his bed.

15The sluggard buries his hand in the dish;
         He is weary of bringing it to his mouth again.

16The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes
         Than seven men who can give a discreet answer.

17Like one who takes a dog by the ears
         Is he who passes by and meddles with strife not belonging to him.

18Like a madman who throws
         Firebrands, arrows and death,

19So is the man who deceives his neighbor,
         And says, “Was I not joking?”

20For lack of wood the fire goes out,
         And where there is no whisperer, contention quiets down.

21Like charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire,
         So is a contentious man to kindle strife.

22The words of a whisperer are like dainty morsels,
         And they go down into the innermost parts of the body.

23Like an earthen vessel overlaid with silver dross
         Are burning lips and a wicked heart.

24He who hates disguises it with his lips,
         But he lays up deceit in his heart.

25When he speaks graciously, do not believe him,
         For there are seven abominations in his heart.

26Though his hatred covers itself with guile,
         His wickedness will be revealed before the assembly.

27He who digs a pit will fall into it,
         And he who rolls a stone, it will come back on him.

28A lying tongue hates those it crushes,
         And a flattering mouth works ruin.

Parallel Verses

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
Like snow in summer and like rain in harvest, So honor is not fitting for a fool.

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
Like snow in summertime and rain at harvest time, so honor is not right for a fool.

King James Bible
As snow in summer, and as rain in harvest, so honour is not seemly for a fool.

Douay-Rheims Bible
As snow in summer, and rain in harvest, so glory is not seemly for a fool.

Darby Bible Translation
As snow in summer, and as rain in harvest, so honour beseemeth not a fool.

English Revised Version
As snow in summer, and as rain in harvest, so honour is not seemly for a fool.

Webster's Bible Translation
As snow in summer, and as rain in harvest; so honor is not seemly for a fool.

World English Bible
Like snow in summer, and as rain in harvest, so honor is not fitting for a fool.

Young's Literal Translation
As snow in summer, and as rain in harvest, So honour is not comely for a fool.

Cross References

1 Samuel 12:17 "Is it not the wheat harvest today? I will call to the LORD, that He may send thunder and rain. Then you will know and see that your wickedness is great which you have done in the sight of the LORD by asking for yourselves a king."

Proverbs 17:7 Excellent speech is not fitting for a fool, Much less are lying lips to a prince.

Proverbs 19:10 Luxury is not fitting for a fool; Much less for a slave to rule over princes.

Commentary

Matthew Henry's Whole Bible Commentary

Chapter 26

Verse 1

Note, 1. It is too common a thing for honour to be given to fools, who are utterly unworthy of it and unfit for it. Bad men, who have neither wit nor grace, are sometimes preferred by princes, and applauded and cried up by the people. Folly is set in great dignity, as Solomon observed, Eccl. 10:6. 2. It is very absurd and unbecoming when it is so. It is an incongruous as snow in summer, and as great a disorder in the commonwealth as that is in the course of nature and in the seasons of the year; nay, it is as injurious as rain in harvest, which hinders the labourers and spoils the fruits of the earth when they are ready to be gathered. When bad men are in power they commonly abuse their power, in discouraging virtue, and giving countenance to wickedness, for want of wisdom to discern it and grace to detest it.

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New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org.

GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Quotations are used by permission. Copyright 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved.

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The Hebrew Sages and their Proverbs
[Sidenote: Role of the sages in Israel's life] In the days of Jeremiah and Ezekiel (Jer. xviii. 18; Ezek. vii. 26) three distinct classes of religious teachers were recognized by the people: the prophets, the priests, and the wise men or sages. From their lips and pens have come practically all the writings of the Old Testament. Of these three classes the wise men or sages are far less prominent or well known. They wrote no history of Israel, they preached no public sermons, nor do they appear …
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Many specimens of the so-called Wisdom Literature are preserved for us in the book of Proverbs, for its contents are by no means confined to what we call proverbs. The first nine chapters constitute a continuous discourse, almost in the manner of a sermon; and of the last two chapters, ch. xxx. is largely made up of enigmas, and xxxi. is in part a description of the good housewife. All, however, are rightly subsumed under the idea of wisdom, which to the Hebrew had always moral relations. The Hebrew …
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