18 Like a madman shooting firebrands and deadly arrows, 19 so is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, “I was only joking!” 20 Without wood, a fire goes out; without gossip, a conflict ceases.
Proverbs 26:18–20
Semantically similar passages
Proverbs 25:17–19
17 Seldom set foot in your neighbor’s house, lest he grow weary and hate you. 18 Like a club or sword or sharp arrow is a man who bears false witness against his neighbor. 19 Like a broken tooth or a foot out of joint is confidence in a faithless man in time of trouble.
Sirach 19:11–13
11 A fool will travail in pain with a word, as a woman in labor with a child. (WEB) 12 As an arrow that sticks in the flesh of the thigh, so is gossip in a fool. (WEB) 13 Question a friend; it may be he didn’t do it. If he did something, it may be that he may do it no more. (WEB)
Proverbs 16:26–28
26 A worker’s appetite works for him because his hunger drives him onward. 27 A worthless man digs up evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire. 28 A perverse man spreads dissension, and a gossip divides close friends.
Sirach 22:23–25
23 Gain trust with your neighbor in his poverty, that in his prosperity you may have gladness. Stay steadfast to him in the time of his affliction, that you may be heir with him in his inheritance. (WEB) 24 Before fire is the vapor and smoke of a furnace, so insults prece… (WEB)
Ecclesiastes 7:5–7
5 It is better to heed a wise man’s rebuke than to listen to the song of fools. 6 For like the crackling of thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This too is futile. 7 Surely extortion turns a wise man into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the heart.
Proverbs 25:27–28
27 It is not good to eat too much honey or to search out one’s own glory. 28 Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who does not control his temper.
Proverbs 25:22–24
22 For in so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the LORD will reward you. 23 As the north wind brings forth rain, so a backbiting tongue brings angry looks. 24 Better to live on a corner of the roof than to share a house with a quarrelsome wife.
Sirach 27:17–19
17 Love a friend, and keep faith with him; but if you reveal his secrets, you shall not follow him; (WEB) 18 for as a man has destroyed his enemy, so you have destroyed the friendship of your neighbor. (WEB) 19 As a bird which you have released out of your hand, so you have let you… (WEB)
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