- As dew in harvest, and as rain in summer, so honour is not
seemly for a fool.
- As birds and sparrows fly, so a curse shall not come upon anyone
without a cause.
- As a whip for a horse, and a goad for an ass, so is a rod
for a simple nation.
- Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou become like
him.
- Yet answer a fool according to his folly, lest he seem wise in his
own conceit.
- He that sends a message by a foolish messenger procures for
himself a reproach from his own ways.
- As well take away the motion of the legs, as
transgression from the mouth of fools.
- He that binds up a stone in a sling, is like one that gives glory
a to a fool.
- Thorns [a] grow in the hand of a
drunkard, and servitude in the hand of fools.
- [b] All the flesh of fools endures
much hardship; for their fury is brought to nought.
- As when a dog goes to his own vomit, and becomes abominable, so
is a fool who returns in his wickedness to his own sin. [There is a
shame that brings sin: and there is a shame that is glory and
grace.]
- I have seen a man who seemed [c] to
himself to be wise; but a fool had more hope than he.
- A sluggard when sent on a journey says, There is a lion
in the ways, and there are murderers in the streets.
- As a door turns on the hinge, so does a sluggard on his bed.
- A sluggard having hid his hand in his bosom, will not be able to
bring it up to his mouth.
- A sluggard seems to himself wiser than one who [d] most satisfactorily brings back a
message.
- As he that lays hold of a dog's tail, so is he that makes himself
the champion of another's cause.
- As those who need correction put forth fair words to men,
and he that first falls in with the proposal will be overthrown;
- so are all that lay wait for their own friends, and when they are
discovered, say, I did it in jest.
- With much wood fire increases; but where there is not a
double-minded man, strife ceases.
- A hearth for coals, and wood for fire; and a railing man for the
tumult of strife.
- The words of cunning knaves are soft; but they smite eve
to the inmost parts of the bowels.
- Silver dishonestly given is to be considered as a potsherd:
smooth lips cover a grievous heart.
- A weeping enemy promises all things with his lips, but in his
heart he contrives deceit.
- Though thine enemy intreat thee with a loud voice,
consent not: for there are seven abominations in his heart.
- He that hides enmity frames deceit: but being easily discerned,
exposes his own sins in the public assemblies.
- He that digs a pit for his neighbour shall fall into it: and he
that rolls a stone, rolls it upon himself.
- A lying tongue hates the truth; and a unguarded mouth causes
tumults.
[a] Compare Heb.
[b] Great variation from Hebrew here.
[c] Gr. by.
[d] Compare Heb.
[English translation of the Septuagint by Sir Lancelot Charles Lee
Brenton (1807-1862) originally published by Samuel Bagster & Sons,
Ltd., London, 1851]