Proverbs 17:12
English Standard Version
Proverbs 17:12
New Living Translation
12 It is safer to meet a bear robbed of her cubs
than to confront a fool caught in foolishness.
Proverbs 23:9
English Standard Version
9 Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,
for he will despise the good sense of your words.
Proverbs 23:9
New Living Translation
9 Don’t waste your breath on fools,
for they will despise the wisest advice.
Proverbs 26:4-11
English Standard Version
4 (A)Answer not a fool according to his folly,
lest you be like him yourself.
5 (B)Answer a fool according to his folly,
lest he be (C)wise in his own eyes.
6 Whoever sends a message by the hand of a fool
cuts off his own feet and (D)drinks violence.
7 Like a lame man's legs, which hang useless,
is a proverb in the mouth of fools.
8 Like one who binds the stone in the sling
is (E)one who gives honor to a fool.
9 Like (F)a thorn that goes up into the hand of a drunkard
is a proverb in the mouth of fools.
10 Like an archer who wounds everyone
is one who hires a passing fool or drunkard.[a]
11 Like (G)a dog that returns to his vomit
is (H)a fool who repeats his folly.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 26:10 Or hires a fool or passersby
Proverbs 26:4-11
New Living Translation
4 Don’t answer the foolish arguments of fools,
or you will become as foolish as they are.
5 Be sure to answer the foolish arguments of fools,
or they will become wise in their own estimation.
6 Trusting a fool to convey a message
is like cutting off one’s feet or drinking poison!
7 A proverb in the mouth of a fool
is as useless as a paralyzed leg.
8 Honoring a fool
is as foolish as tying a stone to a slingshot.
9 A proverb in the mouth of a fool
is like a thorny branch brandished by a drunk.
10 An employer who hires a fool or a bystander
is like an archer who shoots at random.
11 As a dog returns to its vomit,
so a fool repeats his foolishness.
Proverbs 27:22
English Standard Version
22 (A)Crush a fool in a mortar with a pestle
along with crushed grain,
yet his folly will not depart from him.
Proverbs 27:22
New Living Translation
22 You cannot separate fools from their foolishness,
even though you grind them like grain with mortar and pestle.
Proverbs 29:9
English Standard Version
9 If a wise man has an argument with a fool,
the fool only rages and laughs, and there is (A)no quiet.
Proverbs 29:9
New Living Translation
9 If a wise person takes a fool to court,
there will be ranting and ridicule but no satisfaction.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.