Old Testament

New Testament

Proverbs 26:2-18 Catholic Public Domain Version (CPDV)

2. Like a bird flying away to another place, and like a sparrow that hurries away freely, so also a curse uttered against someone without cause will pass away.

3. A whip is for a horse, and a muzzle is for donkey, and a rod is for the back of the imprudent.

4. Do not respond to the foolish according to his folly, lest you become like him.

5. Respond to the foolish according to his folly, lest he imagine himself to be wise.

6. Whoever sends words by a foolish messenger has lame feet and drinks iniquity.

7. In the manner of a lame man who has beautiful legs to no purpose, so also is a parable unfit for the mouth of the foolish.

8. Just like one who casts a stone into the pile of Mercury, so also is he who gives honor to the foolish.

9. In the manner of a thorn, if it were to spring up from the hand of a drunkard, so also is a parable in the mouth of the foolish.

10. Judgment determines cases. And whoever imposes silence on the foolish mitigates anger.

11. Like a dog that returns to his vomit, so also is the imprudent who repeats his foolishness.

12. Have you seen a man who seems wise to himself? There will be greater hope held for the unwise than for him.

13. The lazy one says, "There is a lion along the way, and a lioness in the roads."

14. Just as a door turns upon its hinges, so also does the lazy one turn upon his bed.

15. The lazy one conceals his hand under his arms, and it is a labor for him to move it to his mouth.

16. The lazy one seems wiser to himself than seven men speaking judgments.

17. Just like one who takes hold of a dog by the ears, so also is he who crosses impatiently and meddles in the quarrels of another.

18. Just as he is guilty who let loose the arrows and the lances unto death,

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