Proverbs 17:12
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
12 Better to meet a she-bear robbed of its cubs
than to confront a fool immersed in folly.(A)
Proverbs 23:9
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
9 Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,
who will only despise the wisdom of your words.(A)
Proverbs 26:4-11
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
4 Do not answer fools according to their folly,
lest you be a fool yourself.(A)
5 Answer fools according to their folly,
lest they be wise in their own eyes.(B)
6 It is like cutting off one’s foot and drinking down violence,
to send a message by a fool.
7 The legs of a lame person hang limp;
so does a proverb in the mouth of a fool.(C)
8 It is like binding a stone in a sling
to give honor to a fool.(D)
9 Like a thornbush brandished by the hand of a drunkard
is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.(E)
10 Like an archer who wounds everybody
is one who hires a passing fool or drunkard.[a]
11 Like a dog that returns to its vomit
is a fool who reverts to his folly.(F)
Footnotes
- 26.10 Meaning of Heb uncertain
Proverbs 27:22
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
22 Crush a fool in a mortar with a pestle
along with crushed grain,
but the folly will not be driven out.(A)
Proverbs 29:9
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
9 If the wise go to law with fools,
there is ranting and ridicule without relief.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.