Read the Bible

¹ Like snow in summer or rain in harvest,
so honor is not fitting for a fool.
² Like a fluttering bird or like a flying swallow,
so a curse without cause does not come to rest.
³ A whip for the horse and a bridle for the donkey,
and a rod for the backs of fools!
⁴ Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
lest you yourself also be like him.
⁵ Answer a fool according to his folly,
lest he be wise in his own estimation.
⁶ Like cutting off the feet or drinking violence,
so is sending a message by the hand of a fool.
⁷ Like legs that hang limp from the lame,
so is a proverb in the mouth of fools.
⁸ Like tying a stone in a sling,
so is giving honor to a fool.
⁹ Like a thorn that goes into the hand of a drunkard,
so is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
¹⁰ Like an archer who wounds at random,
so is the one who hires a fool or hires any passer-by.
¹¹ Like a dog that returns to its vomit,
so a fool repeats his folly.
¹² Do you see a man wise in his own eyes?
There is more hope for a fool than for him.
¹³ The sluggard says, "There is a lion in the road!
A lion in the streets!"
¹⁴ Like a door that turns on its hinges,
so a sluggard turns on his bed.
¹⁵ The sluggard plunges his hand in the dish;
he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth.
¹⁶ The sluggard is wiser in his own estimation
than seven people who respond with good sense.
¹⁷ Like one who grabs a wild dog by the ears,
so is the person passing by who becomes furious over a quarrel not his own.
¹⁸ Like a madman who shoots
firebrands and deadly arrows,
¹⁹ so is a person who deceives his neighbor,
and says, "Was I not only joking?"
²⁰ Where there is no wood, a fire goes out,
and where there is no gossip, contention ceases.
²¹ Like charcoal is to burning coals, and wood to fire,
so is a contentious person to kindle strife.
²² The words of a gossip are like delicious morsels;
they go down into a person's innermost being.
²³ Like a coating of glaze over earthenware
are fervent lips with an evil heart.
²⁴ The one who hates others disguises it with his lips,
but he stores up deceit within him.
²⁵ When he speaks graciously, do not believe him,
for there are seven abominations within him.
²⁶ Though his hatred may be concealed by deceit,
his evil will be uncovered in the assembly.
²⁷ The one who digs a pit will fall into it;
the one who rolls a stone—it will come back on him.
²⁸ A lying tongue hates those crushed by it,
and a flattering mouth works ruin.