Proverbs 17:12
Expanded Bible
12 It is ·better [safer] to meet a bear robbed of her cubs
than to meet a fool doing foolish things.
Proverbs 17:12
Amplified Bible
12
Let a man meet a [ferocious] bear robbed of her cubs
Rather than the [angry, narcissistic] fool in his folly.(A)
Proverbs 23:9
Expanded Bible
9 Don’t speak in the ears of fools [Matt. 7:6];
they will only ·ignore [despise] your ·wise [insightful] words.
Proverbs 23:9
Amplified Bible
9
Do not speak in the ears of a fool,
For he will despise the [godly] wisdom of your words.(A)
Proverbs 26:4-11
Expanded Bible
4 Don’t answer fools when they speak foolishly,
or you will be just like them.
5 Answer fools when they speak foolishly,
or they will ·think they are really wise [L be wise in their own eyes; C a wise person must read the situation to know whether to answer or not].
6 Sending a message by a foolish person
is like cutting off your feet or drinking ·poison [L violence].
7 A ·wise saying spoken by [L proverb in the mouth of] a fool
·is as useless as [L dangles like] the legs of a crippled person.
8 Giving honor to a foolish person
is like ·tying a stone [L a bag of stones] in a slingshot.
9 A ·wise saying spoken by [L proverb in the mouth of] a fool
is like a ·thorn stuck in the hand of a drunk [L thornbush in the hand of a fool].
10 Hiring a foolish person or anyone just passing by
is like an archer shooting ·at just anything [randomly].
11 A fool who repeats his ·foolishness [foolish mistakes]
is like a dog that goes back to ·what it has thrown up [its vomit; 2 Pet. 2:22].
Proverbs 26:4-11
Amplified Bible
4
Do not answer [nor pretend to agree with the frivolous comments of] a [closed-minded] fool according to his folly,
Otherwise you, even you, will be like him.
5
Answer [and correct the erroneous concepts of] a fool according to his folly,
Otherwise he will be wise in his own eyes [if he thinks you agree with him].(A)
6
He who sends a message by the hand of a fool
Cuts off his own feet (sabotages himself) and drinks the violence [it brings on himself as a consequence].(B)
7
Like the legs which are useless to the lame,
So is a proverb in the mouth of a fool [who cannot learn from its wisdom].
8
Like one who [absurdly] binds a stone in a sling [making it impossible to throw],
So is he who [absurdly] gives honor to a fool.
9
Like a thorn that goes [without being felt] into the hand of a drunken man,
So is a proverb in the mouth of a fool [who remains unaffected by its wisdom].
10
Like a [careless] archer who [shoots arrows wildly and] wounds everyone,
So is he who hires a fool or those who [by chance just] pass by.
11
Like a dog that returns to his vomit
Is a fool who repeats his foolishness.
Proverbs 27:22
Expanded Bible
22 Even if you ground up a foolish person like grain in a bowl,
you couldn’t remove the foolishness.
Proverbs 27:22
Amplified Bible
22
Even though you pound a [hardened, arrogant] fool [who rejects wisdom] in a mortar with a pestle like grain,
Yet his foolishness will not leave him.
Proverbs 29:9
Expanded Bible
9 When a wise person ·takes a foolish person to court [or debates/disputes a fool],
the fool only shouts or laughs, and there is no ·peace [rest].
Proverbs 29:9
Amplified Bible
9
If a wise man has a controversy with a foolish and arrogant man,
The foolish man [ignores logic and fairness and] only rages or laughs, and there is no peace (rest, agreement).
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.