Read the Bible

¹ Expecting snow in summer
    and rain in the dry season
    makes more sense
    than honoring a fool.
² A curse you don't deserve
will take wings
    and fly away
    like a sparrow or a swallow.
³ Horses and donkeys
must be beaten and bridled—
    and so must fools.
⁴ Don't make a fool of yourself
    by answering a fool.
⁵ But if you answer any fools,
show how foolish they are,
    so they won't feel smart.

⁶ Sending a message by a fool
    is like chopping off your foot
    and drinking poison.
⁷ A fool with words of wisdom
    is like an athlete
    with legs that can't move.^[a]
8 Are you going to honor a fool?
    Why not shoot a slingshot
    with the rock tied tight?
⁹ A thornbush waved around
    in the hand of a drunkard
    is no worse than a proverb
    in the mouth of a fool.

¹⁰ It's no smarter to shoot arrows
    at every passerby
    than it is to hire a bunch
    of worthless nobodies.^[b]
11 Dogs return to eat their vomit,
    just as fools repeat
    their foolishness.
¹² There is more hope for a fool
    than for someone who says,
    "I'm really smart!"

¹³ Don't be lazy and keep saying,
    "There's a lion outside!"
¹⁴ A door turns on its hinges,
    but a lazy person
    just turns over in bed.
¹⁵ Some of us are so lazy
    that we won't lift a hand
    to feed ourselves.
¹⁶ A lazy person says,
"I am smarter
    than everyone else."

¹⁷ It's better to take hold
    of a mad dog by the ears
    than to take part
    in someone else's argument.
¹⁸ It's no crazier to shoot
    sharp and flaming arrows
¹⁹     than to cheat someone and say,
    "I was only fooling!"

²⁰ Where there is no fuel
    a fire goes out;
    where there is no gossip
    arguments come to an end.
²¹ Troublemakers start trouble,
    just as sparks and fuel
    start a fire.
²² There is nothing so delicious
as the taste of gossip!
    It melts in your mouth.

²³ Hiding hateful thoughts
    behind smooth^[c] talk
    is like coating a clay pot
    with a cheap glaze.
²⁴ The pleasant talk
    of an enemy
hides more evil plans
²⁵ than can be counted—
    so don't believe a word!
²⁶ Everyone will see through
    those evil plans.
²⁷ If you dig a pit,
    you will fall in;
    if you start a stone rolling,
    it will roll back on you.
²⁸ Watch out for anyone
who tells lies and flatters—
    they are out to get you.