¹² Let a bear robbed of her cubs meet a man,
    rather than a fool in his folly.

⁴ Don’t answer a fool according to his folly,
    lest you also be like him.
⁵ Answer a fool according to his folly,
    lest he be wise in his own eyes.
⁶ One who sends a message by the hand of a fool
    is cutting off feet and drinking violence.
⁷ Like the legs of the lame that hang loose,
    so is a parable in the mouth of fools.
⁸ As one who binds a stone in a sling,
    so is he who gives honor to a fool.
⁹ Like a thorn bush that goes into the hand of a drunkard,
    so is a parable in the mouth of fools.
¹⁰ As an archer who wounds all,
    so is he who hires a fool
    or he who hires those who pass by.
¹¹ As a dog that returns to his vomit,
    so is a fool who repeats his folly.

²² Though you grind a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with grain,
    yet his foolishness will not be removed from him.