¹² It is ·better [safer] to meet a bear robbed of her cubs
than to meet a fool doing foolish things.

⁹ Don’t speak in the ears of fools [Matt. 7:6];
they will only ·ignore [despise] your ·wise [insightful] words.

⁴ Don’t answer fools when they speak foolishly,
or you will be just like them.

⁵ Answer fools when they speak foolishly,
or they will ·think they are really wise [^Lbe wise in their own eyes; ^Ca wise person must read the situation to know whether to answer or not].

⁶ Sending a message by a foolish person
is like cutting off your feet or drinking ·poison [^Lviolence].

⁷ A ·wise saying spoken by [^Lproverb in the mouth of] a fool
·is as useless as [^Ldangles like] the legs of a crippled person.

⁸ Giving honor to a foolish person
is like ·tying a stone [^La bag of stones] in a slingshot.

⁹ A ·wise saying spoken by [^Lproverb in the mouth of] a fool
is like a ·thorn stuck in the hand of a drunk [^Lthornbush in the hand of a fool].

¹⁰ Hiring a foolish person or anyone just passing by
is like an archer shooting ·at just anything [randomly].

¹¹ A fool who repeats his ·foolishness [foolish mistakes]
is like a dog that goes back to ·what it has thrown up [its vomit; 2 Pet. 2:22].

²² Even if you ground up a foolish person like grain in a bowl,
you couldn’t remove the foolishness.

⁹ When a wise person ·takes a foolish person to court [or debates/disputes a fool],
the fool only shouts or laughs, and there is no ·peace [rest].