2Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying,
         So a curse without cause does not alight.

3A whip is for the horse, a bridle for the donkey,
         And a rod for the back of fools.

4Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
         Or you will also be like him.

5Answer a fool as his folly deserves,
         That he not be wise in his own eyes.

6He cuts off his own feet and drinks violence
         Who sends a message by the hand of a fool.

7Like the legs which are useless to the lame,
         So is a proverb in the mouth of fools.

8Like one who binds a stone in a sling,
         So is he who gives honor to a fool.

9Like a thorn which falls into the hand of a drunkard,
         So is a proverb in the mouth of fools.

10Like an archer who wounds everyone,
         So is he who hires a fool or who hires those who pass by.

11Like a dog that returns to its vomit
         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 lion is in the open square!”

14As the door turns on its hinges,
         So does the sluggard on his bed.

15The sluggard buries his hand in the dish;
         He is weary of bringing it to his mouth again.

16The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes
         Than seven men who can give a discreet answer.

17Like one who takes a dog by the ears
         Is he who passes by and meddles with strife not belonging to him.

18Like a madman who throws
         Firebrands, arrows and death,

19So is the man who deceives his neighbor,
         And says, “Was I not joking?”

20For lack of wood the fire goes out,
         And where there is no whisperer, contention quiets down.

21Like charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire,
         So is a contentious man to kindle strife.

22The words of a whisperer are like dainty morsels,
         And they go down into the innermost parts of the body.

23Like an earthen vessel overlaid with silver dross
         Are burning lips and a wicked heart.

24He who hates disguises it with his lips,
         But he lays up deceit in his heart.

25When he speaks graciously, do not believe him,
         For there are seven abominations in his heart.

26Though his hatred covers itself with guile,
         His wickedness will be revealed before the assembly.

27He who digs a pit will fall into it,
         And he who rolls a stone, it will come back on him.

28A lying tongue hates those it crushes,
         And a flattering mouth works ruin.

NASB ©1995

American Standard Version
As the sparrow in her wandering, as the swallow in her flying, So the curse that is causeless alighteth not.

Douay-Rheims Bible
As a bird flying to other places, and a sparrow going here or there: so a curse uttered without cause shall come upon a man.

Darby Bible Translation
As the sparrow for flitting about, as the swallow for flying, so a curse undeserved shall not come.

English Revised Version
As the sparrow in her wandering, as the swallow in her flying, so the curse that is causeless lighteth not.

Webster's Bible Translation
As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come.

World English Bible
Like a fluttering sparrow, like a darting swallow, so the undeserved curse doesn't come to rest.

Young's Literal Translation
As a bird by wandering, as a swallow by flying, So reviling without cause doth not come.One Lion Two Lions no Lion at All
A sermon (No. 1670) delivered on Thursday Evening, June 8th, 1882, at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington, by C. H. Spurgeon. "The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets."--Proverbs 22:13. "The slothful man saith, There is a lion in the way; a lion is in the streets."--Proverbs 26:13. This slothful man seems to cherish that one dread of his about the lions, as if it were his favorite aversion and he felt it to be too much trouble to invent another excuse. …
C.H. Spurgeon—Sermons on Proverbs

The Hebrew Sages and their Proverbs
[Sidenote: Role of the sages in Israel's life] In the days of Jeremiah and Ezekiel (Jer. xviii. 18; Ezek. vii. 26) three distinct classes of religious teachers were recognized by the people: the prophets, the priests, and the wise men or sages. From their lips and pens have come practically all the writings of the Old Testament. Of these three classes the wise men or sages are far less prominent or well known. They wrote no history of Israel, they preached no public sermons, nor do they appear …
Charles Foster Kent—The Origin & Permanent Value of the Old Testament

We Shall not be Curious in the Ranking of the Duties in which Christian Love...
We shall not be curious in the ranking of the duties in which Christian love should exercise itself. All the commandments of the second table are but branches of it: they might be reduced all to the works of righteousness and of mercy. But truly these are interwoven through other. Though mercy uses to be restricted to the showing of compassion upon men in misery, yet there is a righteousness in that mercy, and there is mercy in the most part of the acts of righteousness, as in not judging rashly, …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Proverbs
Many specimens of the so-called Wisdom Literature are preserved for us in the book of Proverbs, for its contents are by no means confined to what we call proverbs. The first nine chapters constitute a continuous discourse, almost in the manner of a sermon; and of the last two chapters, ch. xxx. is largely made up of enigmas, and xxxi. is in part a description of the good housewife. All, however, are rightly subsumed under the idea of wisdom, which to the Hebrew had always moral relations. The Hebrew …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

Proverbs 26:2 NIV • Proverbs 26:2 NLT • Proverbs 26:2 ESV • Proverbs 26:2 NASB • Proverbs 26:2 KJV • Proverbs 26:2 Bible Apps • Proverbs 26:2 Parallel • Bible Hub