.26:1-28.

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Fools and troublemakers (Prov 26:1-28)

Only a fool honours a fool, and only a fool curses another without cause. Such a curse cannot come true (Prov 26:1-2).

People with wisdom know on which occasions to ignore a fool and on which occasions to answer him (Prov 26:3-5).

Fools cannot be trusted. For them, proverbs are as useless as paralysed legs, and honour is as useless as a stone tied to the sling that is supposed to throw it out (Prov 26:6-8).

Fools with a little knowledge can be dangerous. As employees, they can create trouble for their fellow workers. But a conceited person is worse than a fool (Prov 26:9-12).

Always making excuses, too lazy to get out of bed or help themselves, lazy people nevertheless think they know everything (Prov 26:13-16).

All communities have their troublemakers: busybodies (Prov 26:17); double-talkers who, when they see the damage they have done, say they were only joking (Prov 26:18-19); gossips, without whom many quarrels would have ended long ago (Prov 26:20-22); and smooth talkers whose pleasant words hide their evil intentions (Prov 26:23-26).

Having ruined others, the troublemakers finally ruin themselves (Prov 26:27-28).