Becoming more like Christ

Don't Be a Fool

1Expecting snow in summer

and rain in the dry season

makes more sense

than honoring a fool.

Do not pay homage to fools. Do not suck up to them. It is more foolish to do so than to expect the impossible.

Do not expect the impossible from fools.

2A curse you don't deserve

will take wings and fly away

like a sparrow or a swallow.

Curses that you don't deserve will fly away as long as you honor the holy spirit and don't quench it.

3Horses and donkeys

must be beaten and bridled—

and so must fools.

Fools must be disciplined the hard way.

4Don't make a fool of yourself

by answering a fool.

Don't argue with fools.

5But if you answer any fools,

show how foolish they are,

so they won't feel smart.

Don't argue with fools. Simply teach them the biblical truth. That will humble them and teach them how to be wise.

6Sending a message by a fool

is like chopping off your foot

just to spite yourself.

Don't employ fools as your secretaries.

7A fool with words of wisdom

is like an athlete

with legs that can't move.

Fools have no wisdom whatsoever.

8Are you going to honor a fool?

Why not shoot a slingshot

with the rock tied tight?

It is better to attempt something impossible than to honor a fool by employing them.

9A thornbush waved around

in the hand of a drunkard

is no worse than a proverb

in the mouth of a fool.

The mouths of fools are filled with thorny criticism.

10It's no smarter to shoot arrows

at every passerby

than it is to hire a bunch

of worthless nobodies.

Fools are not anyone. They are worthless to God. They are nobodies to God.

No matter how rich you are, how wealthy you are, how influential you are, if you are wise in your own sight but fail to follow the Bible and fail to seek wisdom from God, the holy spirit, you are a fool, and you are nothing more than a fool to God.

11 Dogs return to eat their vomit,

just as fools repeat

their foolishness.

Fools are dogs.

12There is more hope for a fool

than for someone who says,

“I'm really smart!”

There is only one person worsse than a fool, and tha tis an arrogant braggart.