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12 Let a (A)man meet a (B)bear robbed of her cubs,
Rather than a fool in his folly.

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12 Better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs
    than a fool bent on folly.(A)

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(A)Do not speak in the [a]hearing of a fool,
For he will (B)despise the insight of your speech.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 23:9 Lit ears

Saying 10

Do not speak to fools,
    for they will scorn your prudent words.(A)

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(A)Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
Lest you yourself also be like him.
(B)Answer a fool according to his folly,
Lest he be (C)wise in his own eyes.
He cuts off his own feet and drinks violence
Who sends words by the hand of a fool.
Like the legs which hang limp on the lame,
So is a proverb in the mouth of fools.
Like [a]one who binds a stone in a sling,
So is he who gives glory to a fool.
Like a thorn which goes up into the hand of a drunkard,
So is a proverb in the mouth of fools.
10 [b]Like an archer who wounds everyone,
So is he who hires a fool or who hires those who pass by.
11 Like (D)a dog that returns to its vomit
Is a fool who (E)repeats [c]his folly.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 26:8 Lit the binding of
  2. Proverbs 26:10 Or A master workman produces all things, But he who hires a fool is like one who hires those who pass by
  3. Proverbs 26:11 Lit with his

Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
    or you yourself will be just like him.(A)
Answer a fool according to his folly,
    or he will be wise in his own eyes.(B)
Sending a message by the hands of a fool(C)
    is like cutting off one’s feet or drinking poison.
Like the useless legs of one who is lame
    is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.(D)
Like tying a stone in a sling
    is the giving of honor to a fool.(E)
Like a thornbush in a drunkard’s hand
    is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.(F)
10 Like an archer who wounds at random
    is one who hires a fool or any passer-by.
11 As a dog returns to its vomit,(G)
    so fools repeat their folly.(H)

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22 Though you (A)pound an ignorant fool in a mortar with a pestle in the midst of crushed grain,
His [a]folly will not turn aside from him.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 27:22 A lack of wisdom due to negligence or carelessness; the activity of an ignorant fool

22 Though you grind a fool in a mortar,
    grinding them like grain with a pestle,
    you will not remove their folly from them.

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When a wise man is brought into judgment with a man who is an ignorant fool,
[a]The ignorant fool both rages and laughs, and there is no rest.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 29:9 Lit He

If a wise person goes to court with a fool,
    the fool rages and scoffs, and there is no peace.

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