Read & explore together
Similitudes and Instructions
Proverbs 26 strings together sharp comparisons about fools, lazy habits and harmful speech. These sayings do not tell a story. They help readers recognise conduct that is unfitting, dangerous or self-defeating.
Understanding the passage
Listening in context
This chapter moves from sayings about fools to the sluggard, then to quarrels, gossip, deceit and lies. The passage often teaches by likenesses, placing one picture beside another so the warning can be seen clearly in the words themselves.
Proverbs 26:1–28Main takeaway
Proverbs 26 warns that foolishness, laziness and deceitful speech cause harm and often turn back on the one who uses them.
Look closely at the words
Open a card to explore the full explanation and its Bible references.
01What does not fitThe first sayings stress mismatch. Honour does not fit a fool, just as snow in summer and rain in harvest do not fit.
Explanation
The first sayings stress mismatch. Honour does not fit a fool, just as snow in summer and rain in harvest do not fit. An undeserved curse does not come to rest. The next image simply matches whip, bridle and rod with horse, donkey and fools in the proverb’s comparison.
02Fools and wise wordsVerses 4 and 5 give two warnings that must both be noticed. Answering a fool can make you like him, yet not answering can leave him wise in his own eyes.
Explanation
Verses 4 and 5 give two warnings that must both be noticed. Answering a fool can make you like him, yet not answering can leave him wise in his own eyes. The passage also warns against sending a fool, and says giving honour to a fool is like binding a stone in a sling.
03Repeated folly and the sluggardA fool repeats folly as a dog returns to its vomit. A person wise in his own eyes is described as having even less hope.
Explanation
A fool repeats folly as a dog returns to its vomit. A person wise in his own eyes is described as having even less hope. The sluggard makes excuses about danger, turns on his bed like a door on hinges, and will not finish the effort of eating.
04Quarrels, deceit and ruinThe last sayings warn against meddling in another quarrel and against harmful deception excused as joking.
Explanation
The last sayings warn against meddling in another quarrel and against harmful deception excused as joking. Gossip keeps strife alive, and a contentious person kindles it. Charming speech may hide evil for a time, but malice is exposed. A pit, a rolling stone, lies and flattery all lead toward ruin.
Questions to explore
Pause, look back at the verses and talk together.
01What two dangers appear in Proverbs 26:4 and Proverbs 26:5?
One danger is becoming like the fool; the other is leaving him wise in his own eyes.
02How does Proverbs 26:8 describe giving honour to a fool?
Stay close to the image: it says this act is like binding a stone in a sling.
03Which kinds of speech keep trouble going in the final part of the passage?
Look for gossip, contentious words, deception, lies and flattery in the verses.
Read the Bible passage
World English Bible ClassicScripture quotation · Public domain
Proverbs 26:1–28
1Like snow in summer, and as rain in harvest, so honor is not fitting for a fool.
2Like a fluttering sparrow, like a darting swallow, so the undeserved curse doesn’t come to rest.
3A whip is for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the back of fools!
4Don’t answer a fool according to his folly, lest you also be like him.
5Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.
6One who sends a message by the hand of a fool is cutting off feet and drinking violence.
7Like the legs of the lame that hang loose, so is a parable in the mouth of fools.
8As one who binds a stone in a sling, so is he who gives honor to a fool.
9Like a thorn bush that goes into the hand of a drunkard, so is a parable in the mouth of fools.
10As an archer who wounds all, so is he who hires a fool or he who hires those who pass by.
11As a dog that returns to his vomit, so is a fool who repeats his folly.
12Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
13The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road! A fierce lion roams the streets!”
14As the door turns on its hinges, so does the sluggard on his bed.
15The sluggard buries his hand in the dish. He is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth.
16The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who answer with discretion.
17Like one who grabs a dog’s ears is one who passes by and meddles in a quarrel not his own.
18Like a madman who shoots torches, arrows, and death,
19is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, “Am I not joking?”
20For lack of wood a fire goes out. Without gossip, a quarrel dies down.
21As coals are to hot embers, and wood to fire, so is a contentious man to kindling strife.
22The words of a whisperer are as dainty morsels, they go down into the innermost parts.
23Like silver dross on an earthen vessel are the lips of a fervent one with an evil heart.
24A malicious man disguises himself with his lips, but he harbors evil in his heart.
25When his speech is charming, don’t believe him, for there are seven abominations in his heart.
26His malice may be concealed by deception, but his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.
27Whoever digs a pit shall fall into it. Whoever rolls a stone, it will come back on him.
28A lying tongue hates those it hurts; and a flattering mouth works ruin.