The Message Bible MSG
English Standard Version ESV
1 We no more give honors to fools than pray for snow in summer or rain during harvest.
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Like snow in summer or rain in harvest, so honor is not fitting for a fool.
2 You have as little to fear from an undeserved curse as from the dart of a wren or the swoop of a swallow.
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Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying, a curse that is causeless does not alight.
3 A whip for the racehorse, a tiller for the sailboat - and a stick for the back of fools!
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A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the back of fools.
4 Don't respond to the stupidity of a fool; you'll only look foolish yourself.
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Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself.
5 Answer a fool in simple terms so he doesn't get a swelled head.
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Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.
6 You're only asking for trouble when you send a message by a fool.
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Whoever sends a message by the hand of a fool cuts off his own feet and drinks violence.
7 A proverb quoted by fools is limp as a wet noodle.
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Like a lame man's legs, which hang useless, is a proverb in the mouth of fools.
8 Putting a fool in a place of honor is like setting a mud brick on a marble column.
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Like one who binds the stone in the sling is one who gives honor to a fool.
9 To ask a moron to quote a proverb is like putting a scalpel in the hands of a drunk.
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Like a thorn that goes up into the hand of a drunkard is a proverb in the mouth of fools.
10 Hire a fool or a drunk and you shoot yourself in the foot.
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Like an archer who wounds everyone is one who hires a passing fool or drunkard.
11 As a dog eats its own vomit, so fools recycle silliness.
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Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly.
12 See that man who thinks he's so smart? You can expect far more from a fool than from him.
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Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
13 Loafers say, "It's dangerous out there! Tigers are prowling the streets!" and then pull the covers back over their heads.
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The sluggard says, "There is a lion in the road! There is a lion in the streets!"
14 Just as a door turns on its hinges, so a lazybones turns back over in bed.
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As a door turns on its hinges, so does a sluggard on his bed.
15 A shiftless sluggard puts his fork in the pie, but is too lazy to lift it to his mouth. Like Glaze on Cracked Pottery
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The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; it wears him out to bring it back to his mouth.
16 Dreamers fantasize their self-importance; they think they are smarter than a whole college faculty.
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The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly.
17 You grab a mad dog by the ears when you butt into a quarrel that's none of your business.
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Whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own is like one who takes a passing dog by the ears.
18 People who shrug off deliberate deceptions, saying, "I didn't mean it, I was only joking,"
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Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death
19 Are worse than careless campers who walk away from smoldering campfires.
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is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, "I am only joking!"
20 When you run out of wood, the fire goes out; when the gossip ends, the quarrel dies down.
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For lack of wood the fire goes out, and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases.
21 A quarrelsome person in a dispute is like kerosene thrown on a fire.
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As charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.
22 Listening to gossip is like eating cheap candy; do you want junk like that in your belly?
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The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body.
23 Smooth talk from an evil heart is like glaze on cracked pottery.
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Like the glaze covering an earthen vessel are fervent lips with an evil heart.
24 Your enemy shakes hands and greets you like an old friend, all the while conniving against you.
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Whoever hates disguises himself with his lips and harbors deceit in his heart;
25 When he speaks warmly to you, don't believe him for a minute; he's just waiting for the chance to rip you off.
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when he speaks graciously, believe him not, for there are seven abominations in his heart;
26 No matter how cunningly he conceals his malice, eventually his evil will be exposed in public.
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though his hatred be covered with deception, his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.
27 Malice backfires; spite boomerangs.
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Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and a stone will come back on him who starts it rolling.
28 Liars hate their victims; flatterers sabotage trust.
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A lying tongue hates its victims, and a flattering mouth works ruin.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.