1 ARST Honoring foolish people is just as inappropriate as snow{ falling} in{ hot} summer and rain{ falling} during the time to harvest crops. BSB BSB: Like snow in summer and rain at harvest, honor does not befit a fool.
2 ARST When someone curses innocent people, it is like birds that fly around and do not land{ on those innocent people}. BSB BSB: Like a fluttering sparrow or darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest.
3 ARST As people must whip horses and bridle donkeys{ in order to guide them}, so people must physically punish foolish people{ in order to guide them}. BSB BSB: A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the backs of fools!
5 ARST { Sometimes,} reply to foolish people according to their foolish way of thinking. If you do not, then they may think that they are wise. BSB BSB: Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he become wise in his own eyes.
6 ARST People who send foolish people to tell{ someone else} something on their behalf{ harm themselves like} someone who cuts off his own feet or drinks what is harmful. BSB BSB: Like cutting off one’s own feet or drinking violence is the sending of a message by the hand of a fool.
7 ARST { As} the legs of people who cannot walk are useless, so are the sayings that foolish people say. BSB BSB: Like lame legs hanging limp is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
8 ARST Honoring foolish people is just{ as useless} as a harmless weapon. BSB BSB: Like binding a stone into a sling is the giving of honor to a fool.
9 ARST { As} a thistle that pierces the hand of a drunk person{ hurts that person}, so are the sayings that foolish people say. BSB BSB: Like a thorn that goes into the hand of a drunkard is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
10 ARST People who employ foolish people or random strangers are{ as dangerous} as someone who injures all the people{ near him} by shooting arrows{ at them}. BSB BSB: Like an archer who wounds at random is he who hires a fool or passerby.
11 ARST Foolish people who do the same foolish thing over and over again are like dogs that eat what they have vomited up. BSB BSB: As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.
12 ARST Consider this: Foolish people are more likely to improve themselves than people who{ wrongly} think they are wise. BSB BSB: Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
13 ARST Lazy people{ do nothing because they} claim that there is a lion in the path or in the midst of the streets. BSB BSB: The slacker says, “A lion is in the road! A fierce lion roams the public square!”
14 ARST As doors swing on their hinges{ and do not go anywhere}, so lazy people turn back and forth in their beds. BSB BSB: As a door turns on its hinges, so the slacker turns on his bed.
15 ARST Lazy people put their hands in a dish{ of food},{ but} they are so lazy that they will not lift the food to their mouths. BSB BSB: The slacker buries his hand in the dish; it wearies him to bring it back to his mouth.
16 ARST Lazy people{ wrongly} think that they are wiser than many people who answer discreetly. BSB BSB: The slacker is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who answer discreetly.
17 ARST People who make themselves angry because of something not concerning them that other people are arguing about are{ as foolish as} people who cause dogs to bite them by pulling their ears when they walk by. BSB BSB: Like one who grabs a dog by the ears is a passerby who meddles in a quarrel not his own.
18 ARST People who trick people they know and say that they were just joking are{ as dangerous} as a crazy person who{ uses a bow to} shoot flaming darks or deadly arrows{ at people}. BSB BSB: Like a madman shooting firebrands and deadly arrows,
20 ARST Fires stop burning when they have nothing{ to burn}. In the same way, people stop arguing when no one is gossiping. BSB BSB: Without wood, a fire goes out; without gossip, a conflict ceases.
21 ARST { As} charcoal keeps coals burning and wood keeps fires burning, so people who always argue keep other people arguing. BSB BSB: Like charcoal for embers and wood for fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.
22 ARST People are eager to listen to what people who gossip say, and what they say deeply affects those who hear it. BSB BSB: The words of a gossip are like choice morsels that go down into the inmost being.
23 ARST What people fervently say while thinking evilly is{ as deceptive as} a cheap pot that someone has covered with a pretty coating. BSB BSB: Like glaze covering an earthen vessel are burning lips and a wicked heart.
24 ARST People who hate you will use what they say to hide what they feel, but they are{ really} thinking about how to betray you. BSB BSB: A hateful man disguises himself with his speech, but he lays up deceit in his heart.
25 ARST Do not believe those people when they speak kindly to you, because they are thinking many detestable things. BSB BSB: When he speaks graciously, do not believe him, for seven abominations fill his heart.
26 ARST Although those people prevent others from knowing that they hate you by deceiving them, everyone will realize how wicked they are. BSB BSB: Though his hatred is concealed by deception, his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.
27 ARST People who dig pits to trap others will fall into those pits instead; and people who try to crush others with stones will become crushed by those stones instead. BSB BSB: He who digs a pit will fall into it, and he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him.
28 ARST Liars hate the people whom they hurt, and flatterers cause disastrous things to happen. BSB BSB: A lying tongue hates those it crushes, and a flattering mouth causes ruin.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.