Similitudes and Instructions 1 UST 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 UST Just as a bird will fly by{ and not land on you}, so a curse will not harm you if you are innocent. BSB BSB: Like a fluttering sparrow or darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest.
3 UST 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 UST 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 UST Anyone who asks a foolish person to take a message to someone is{ doing something as foolish as} cutting off his own feet or drinking poison. 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 UST { 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 UST 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 UST A drunken person picks up a thorn{ and it will hurt someone},{ in the same way} a foolish person says a proverb{ that can only be harmful}. BSB BSB: Like a thorn that goes into the hand of a drunkard is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
10 UST People who employ foolish people or random strangers are{ as dangerous} as someone who randomly shoots arrows at people. BSB BSB: Like an archer who wounds at random is he who hires a fool or passerby.
11 UST 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 UST Consider this: Foolish people are more likely to learn than people who{ wrongly} think that they are{ already} 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 UST Lazy people claim that there is a lion in the path or in the midst of the streets{ so that they can stay inside their houses and do nothing}. BSB BSB: The slacker says, “A lion is in the road! A fierce lion roams the public square!”
14 UST 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 UST 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 UST A{ typical} lazy person{ wrongly} thinks that he is wiser than several people who answer intelligently. BSB BSB: The slacker is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who answer discreetly.
17 UST People who make themselves angry because of an argument that does not concern them are{ as foolish as} people who grab the ears of a dog that is passing by. BSB BSB: Like one who grabs a dog by the ears is a passerby who meddles in a quarrel not his own.
18 UST People who trick others and then say that they were just joking are{ as dangerous} as a crazy person who shoots deadly flaming arrows{ at people}. BSB BSB: Like a madman shooting firebrands and deadly arrows,
20 UST 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 UST { 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 UST 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 UST People who fervently say{ that they are your friend} while thinking about doing evil things{ to you}{ are as deceptive as} a{ cheap} clay pot that someone has made to look like silver. BSB BSB: Like glaze covering an earthen vessel are burning lips and a wicked heart.
24 UST 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 UST 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 UST Although those people deceive others by pretending that they do not hate you, When people gather together, they will discover how wicked those people are. BSB BSB: Though his hatred is concealed by deception, his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.
27 UST 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 UST 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.