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Similitudes and Instructions

¹ Like snow in summer and rain at harvest, honor does not befit a fool.

² Like a fluttering sparrow or darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest.

³ A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the backs of fools!

⁴ Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be like him.⁵ Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he become wise in his own eyes.

⁶ Like cutting off one’s own feet or drinking violence is the sending of a message by the hand of a fool.⁷ Like lame legs hanging limp is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.⁸ Like binding a stone into a sling is the giving of honor to a fool.⁹ Like a thorn that falls into the hand of a drunkard is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.

¹⁰ Like an archer who wounds at random is he who hires a fool or passer-by.

¹¹ As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.

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

¹³ The slacker says, “A lion is in the road! A fierce lion roams the public square!”

¹⁴ As a door turns on its hinges, so the slacker turns on his bed.

¹⁵ The slacker buries his hand in the dish; it wearies him to bring it back to his mouth.

¹⁶ The slacker is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who answer discreetly.

¹⁷ Like one who grabs a dog by the ears is a passer-by who meddles in a quarrel not his own.

¹⁸ Like a madman shooting firebrands and deadly arrows,¹⁹ so is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, “I was only joking!”

²⁰ Without wood, a fire goes out; without gossip, a conflict ceases.²¹ Like charcoal for embers and wood for fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.²² The words of a gossip are like choice morsels that go down to the inmost being.

²³ Like glaze covering an earthen vessel are burning^(a) lips and a wicked heart.

²⁴ A hateful man disguises himself with his speech, but he lays up deceit in his heart.²⁵ When he speaks graciously, do not believe him, for seven abominations fill his heart.²⁶ Though his hatred is concealed by deception, his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.

²⁷ He who digs a pit will fall into it, and he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him.

²⁸ A lying tongue hates those it crushes, and a flattering mouth causes ruin.