⁶ A fool's lips walk into a fight,
    and his mouth invites ^(A)a beating.

³ A stone is heavy, and sand is weighty,
    but ^(A)a fool's provocation is heavier than both.

²⁴ Make no friendship with a man given to anger,
    nor go with a wrathful man,
²⁵ lest you learn his ways
    and entangle yourself in a snare.

^27 (A)A worthless man plots evil,
    and his speech^[a] is like ^(B)a scorching fire.
^28 (C)A dishonest man spreads strife,
    and ^(D)a whisperer ^(E)separates close friends.

⁹ If a wise man has an argument with a fool,
    the fool only rages and laughs, and there is ^(A)no quiet.

^24 (A)It is better to live in a corner of the housetop
    than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife.

³ It is an honor for a man to ^(A)keep aloof from strife,
    but every fool will be quarreling.

²⁹ Condemnation is ready for ^(A)scoffers,
    and ^(B)beating for the backs of fools.

¹⁹ A man of great wrath will pay the penalty,
    for if you deliver him, you will only have to do it again.

¹⁴ The beginning of strife is like letting out water,
    so ^(A)quit before the quarrel breaks out.