The Message Bible MSG
New Living Translation NLT
1 We no more give honors to fools than pray for snow in summer or rain during harvest.
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Honor is no more associated with fools than snow with summer or rain with harvest.
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 fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse will not land on its intended victim.
3 A whip for the racehorse, a tiller for the sailboat - and a stick for the back of fools!
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Guide a horse with a whip, a donkey with a bridle, and a fool with a rod to his back!
4 Don't respond to the stupidity of a fool; you'll only look foolish yourself.
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Don’t answer the foolish arguments of fools, or you will become as foolish as they are.
5 Answer a fool in simple terms so he doesn't get a swelled head.
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Be sure to answer the foolish arguments of fools, or they will become wise in their own estimation.
6 You're only asking for trouble when you send a message by a fool.
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Trusting a fool to convey a message is like cutting off one’s feet or drinking poison!
7 A proverb quoted by fools is limp as a wet noodle.
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A proverb in the mouth of a fool is as useless as a paralyzed leg.
8 Putting a fool in a place of honor is like setting a mud brick on a marble column.
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Honoring a fool is as foolish as tying a stone to a slingshot.
9 To ask a moron to quote a proverb is like putting a scalpel in the hands of a drunk.
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A proverb in the mouth of a fool is like a thorny branch brandished by a drunk.
10 Hire a fool or a drunk and you shoot yourself in the foot.
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An employer who hires a fool or a bystander is like an archer who shoots at random.
11 As a dog eats its own vomit, so fools recycle silliness.
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As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his foolishness.
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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There is more hope for fools than for people who think they are wise.
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 lazy person claims, “There’s a lion on the road! Yes, I’m sure there’s a lion out there!”
14 Just as a door turns on its hinges, so a lazybones turns back over in bed.
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As a door swings back and forth on its hinges, so the lazy person turns over in 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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Lazy people take food in their hand but don’t even lift it to their mouth.
16 Dreamers fantasize their self-importance; they think they are smarter than a whole college faculty.
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Lazy people consider themselves smarter than seven wise counselors.
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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Interfering in someone else’s argument is as foolish as yanking a dog’s ears.
18 People who shrug off deliberate deceptions, saying, "I didn't mean it, I was only joking,"
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Just as damaging as a madman shooting a deadly weapon
19 Are worse than careless campers who walk away from smoldering campfires.
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is someone who lies to a friend and then says, “I was 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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Fire goes out without wood, and quarrels disappear when gossip stops.
21 A quarrelsome person in a dispute is like kerosene thrown on a fire.
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A quarrelsome person starts fights as easily as hot embers light charcoal or fire lights wood.
22 Listening to gossip is like eating cheap candy; do you want junk like that in your belly?
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Rumors are dainty morsels that sink deep into one’s heart.
23 Smooth talk from an evil heart is like glaze on cracked pottery.
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Smooth words may hide a wicked heart, just as a pretty glaze covers a clay pot.
24 Your enemy shakes hands and greets you like an old friend, all the while conniving against you.
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People may cover their hatred with pleasant words, but they’re deceiving you.
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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They pretend to be kind, but don’t believe them. Their hearts are full of many evils.
26 No matter how cunningly he conceals his malice, eventually his evil will be exposed in public.
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While their hatred may be concealed by trickery, their wrongdoing will be exposed in public.
27 Malice backfires; spite boomerangs.
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If you set a trap for others, you will get caught in it yourself. If you roll a boulder down on others, it will crush you instead.
28 Liars hate their victims; flatterers sabotage trust.
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A lying tongue hates its victims, and flattering words cause 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.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.