¹⁷ A person who is passing by and meddles in a quarrel that’s not his
is like one who grabs a dog by the ears.

²⁰ Without wood, fire goes out;
without a gossip, conflict dies down.^(A)
21 As charcoal for embers and wood for fire,
so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.^(B)

²² An angry man stirs up conflict,
and a hot-tempered man^[a] increases rebellion.^(A)